Black Eyes
by LucyLuna
Summary: When his mother insisted he come home for Christmas hols during his fifth year to share some important news, Severus came up with dozens of possible, not-so-possible, and impossible theories about what she could have to announce. This, though, he never dreamed it would be this. First War W/Voldemort. AU. Part I of Family Branches series. Complete.
1. Merry Christmas

_Black Eyes_

* * *

Christmas in the Snape household was a dreary affair growing up. Some years, if his father didn't drink away his entire holiday bonus, they'd have a small Christmas tree which Severus and his mother would decorate with snowflakes made from old post. Most years, however, all they had was an ancient faux-pine wreath which they placed on their front door and three red and green stockings with each of their initials embroidered on the front hung above the drawing room fireplace. Unfortunately, the wreath always looked a pathetic facsimile compared to the real evergreen and balsam ones adorning the doors of their neighbors' and nearly every Christmas morning proved to be only a lesson in disappointment for Severus once he looked in his stocking. It rarely held more than a stick of penny candy, a few pieces of chocolate, and a small, cheap toy – like a top, or a set of jacks (never mind the fact he never had a friend to play them with until he was ten).

So it came to no one's surprise once Severus started at Hogwarts he made the decision to celebrate the holidays at school, rather than at home. Thankfully, his mother didn't seem to begrudge him for it. If anything, her letters leading up to Christmas appeared to encourage Severus to stay. She'd done what she could to make Christmas special when he was little, but knew it was nothing compared to what Hogwarts could give him.

However, that all changed in his fifth year when his mother requested his return to Spinner's End for the holidays at the end of November. He was confused at first and sent a couple of letters over the next two weeks trying to get an answer as to why out of her, but his mother returned each inquiry with further, more forceful requests and promises he would be told all if he would just come home. It was clear whatever it was his mother had to share was important, yet, still, Severus hesitated to agree.

When Severus received his final request from his mother just days before the start of Holidays, he realized there was no more room for indecision. Letter in one hand and the supplies necessary to send a reply in the other, he sat himself down in one of the corners of the Slytherin's common room. There, Severus began to weigh his options.

He knew Lily always went home for Christmas and after their… _End_ , he'd been looking forward to a couple of weeks reprieve from her constant presence here at Hogwarts. Severus hated the thought, but if he agreed to his mother's begging, he would likely have to stay in his parents' home for his entire holiday. That was the only way he could guarantee with complete certainty he'd not have to catch so much as a glimpse of her. What a joy that would be; listening to his parents row, having to hide in his room for hours on end as not to disturb his father… Why was he even considering going home again? Oh, yes, because his mother said they needed to have a talk about something of great importance and, for whatever reason, decided it could not be done through letters. This annoyed Severus greatly and he almost chose to refuse out of spite, but, in the end, his curiosity won out.

With great reluctance, he scrawled out on a fresh sheet of parchment that he would be coming home for the holidays.

-o-O-o-

In the intervening days between his last letter to his mum and returning to Spinner's end, Severus spent hours creating a number of theories about what she might have to tell him that was so important it had to be done in person. One was that Mum planned to announce she and Dad were divorcing, but that was quite low on his list of possibilities (even as he wished it were higher). She'd told him in the past she didn't abide by divorce, no matter how difficult a marriage became. You stood by your husband or wife or you were a liar who could never be trusted to follow through on their vows again. Another was that his father could be sick with some Muggle disease, which, given how much he drank and smoked, didn't seem all that impossible. Of his last theories, where he began to grasp at straws, Severus predicted it could be they were moving houses… Though, he was going to be seriously vexed if that was it, because that wasn't any kind of delicate news at all and coming home to hear such mundane news would be a great waste of time.

What turned out to be the news, however, was something Severus never even dreamed of.

-O-

Severus found he was suddenly very aware of everything. The gray in his father's beard, the nip in the air, the rattling of the radiator in the hallway, the uncomfortable feeling of the lumpy sofa cushion beneath his bum. At a loss, Severus chewed on the air for a minute before he finally managed to choke, "You're… Pregnant." Severus frowned. "How?"

His mother's features flickered with irritation. "Do we need to go over how children are made again?"

"No!" he snapped. He bloody well knew how babies were made. But his parents still doing… _that_ seemed inconceivable. They hardly even went a day without rowing when he was home. When did they muster up enough love to commit such an act? "Why?" he asked. "Why now?"

Severus's mother sighed. "It was far from planned. After the miscarriage I had when you were little, the healers–"

"–doctors," his father broke in, now scowling.

His mother nodded. "Yes, the doctors, said it would be nigh impossible to become pregnant again."

Severus recalled the miscarriage. He didn't remember it as such, but it did evoke a memory of holding onto his father's hand as they visited his mother in a Muggle hospital when he was three or so. He recalled being quite confused by his mother's red-rimmed eyes and frightened by the shocking sobriety of his father. It'd been an all-around distressing event that managed to sear itself in his psyche well enough, even now, twelve years later, he still remembered it with surprising clarity.

"Yet here we are," Severus said after a moment.

She nodded.

He glanced at his father. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask if the baby was even the man's, but Severus thought better of it. He didn't want to die. "When is it going to be born?" he asked.

"Early August," his mother replied.

Severus fell quiet a moment. He didn't know what to say now. Giving his parents his congratulations didn't seem right. Neither his mum or his dad looked happy to be here in the drawing room informing Severus about his impending sibling. And giving condolences would be far too honest. In the end, he settled on:

"Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," his mother echoed, a small, sardonic smile twisting her lips.

* * *

 **First thoughts?**

 **Thank you all so very much for reading :)**


	2. Darla

_Black Eyes_

* * *

When the holidays were over and Severus returned to Hogwarts he didn't tell anyone about his family's news. Who would even care he was going to have a little brother or sister? Rosier and Wilkes were good enough company most days, but their relationships were hardly more than superficial. They'd do the polite thing (probably) and congratulate him, but they would never say or ask anything about it ever again. Briefly, he thought of getting Lily alone for a moment to tell her, to see if it changed anything between them, but that just seemed desperate.

He'd been pathetic enough after she said they were done, he didn't want to make a fool of himself any more than he already had. So, with no one to share his good(?) news with, Severus quietly sat on it. Only occasionally thinking of it when his mother sent him letters and he'd remember to ask how the baby was doing. She always told him his little brother or sister was doing just fine. Sometimes she'd say they were giving her heartburn or Irish dancing on her bladder, but otherwise, she refused to mention any issues. Even so, Severus tried to read up a little on pregnancy in witches. His mother wasn't old by any means; she wasn't even twenty when she had Severus, but she hadn't been pregnant in years and was a bit on the older side for such activities.

What he read didn't really reassure him, and to stop himself from panicking that she or the baby would die while he was away at school, he had to stop reading on pregnancy and instead throw himself into his OWLs. It worked out quite well for him in the end as he got Os in potions, defense, herbology, care of magical creatures, and arithmancy, and Es in everything else.

After he told his mum, she promised there would be a pie waiting for him when he got home. It came as a bit of a shock when a few days later he realized he was spending a lot more time fantasizing about the pie than he was his little sibling. Guiltily, he put the treat out of his mind and resolved to never tell the baby he spent more time thinking about a pastry than he did about them before they were born.

-o-O-o-

The day he returned home from Hogwarts, as he and his mum shared his celebratory pie over tea in the kitchen, she smiled suddenly and reached for Severus's hand. She took it placed it on her enlarged stomach. For a moment, Severus was confused. Why would she—?

Then he felt it. His little brother or sister kicking. He met his mum's mirthful gaze and asked, "Does it hurt?"

"Not a bit," she answered.

Severus let his hand stay on his mother's stomach a moment more. When he pulled it away, he grinned at his mum and said, "That's brilliant."

His mum smirked as she brought another bite of pie to her lips. "They're an active one, I'll give them that."

He nodded. "Strong too."

-o-O-o-

Midday on August eleventh, and two days before he planned to go to Diagon Alley to buy a new (used) set of robes to replace the ones he'd gotten too broad for in the shoulders, his mother walked into his bedroom. "The baby is coming," she said.

He put down the textbook he'd been reading. "What? Now?"

She bared her teeth and hissed, "Yes, bloody well now!"

Severus jumped up from the floor and asked, "What do you need me to do?"

Through her ever-worsening contractions, his mother instructed Severus on what he needed to do to help her. When his father met him in the hospital's waiting room an hour and a half later, he couldn't help the feeling of relief that coursed through him. His dad was a bastard, but at least he'd done this before. He'd know if something wasn't right and let Severus know.

When the man spotted him among the room's other occupants, he briskly made his way over to Severus and sat down right next to him. Then, in a rare show of affection, he gave Severus's shoulder a squeeze.

"'S all gonna work out, boy."

He nodded. Releasing a pent-up breath he'd hardly realized he was holding, Severus sagged into the hard, unyielding chair beneath him. As the seconds continued to tick off on the waiting room clock, Severus chose to trust his father, for once, on this, that things would turn out okay. They had to.

-O-

Severus looked down at the blotchy, sleeping face of his newborn sister; a mix of emotions churned in his heart. Mostly, it was worry. He didn't know if he loved her, but he thought he must, or why would he be so afraid of what her life would hold? He almost hoped she'd be a squib. Maybe Dad would treat her better than he did him growing up if she were. And if she was magical? Well, if he didn't get himself killed in the next couple of years, he was sure to make something of himself. Severus would allow no less. He was going to turn Snape into a respectable name in the wizarding world and ensure she didn't go to Hogwarts in secondhand robes or have to carry around used textbooks like he did. He would do his best to make her Hogwarts experience an idyllic time she could look back at with fondness when grown.

Unlike him.

"What's her name?"

His mum held her hands out to Severus, requesting his sister back. Carefully, he placed the baby in her arms. Immediately, his sister curled into his mother, giving a little, weary sigh. Severus reckoned it was tiring to be born.

"Darla Katherine Snape," she told him.

He nodded. "Good name."

From the chair he sat in on the opposite side of Mum's bed, his dad snorted. Severus and his mum ignored him.

Staring down at his little sister, he said, "I'll come home for Christmas to see you all. I hear babies grow quite a lot in the first few months."

"They do," his mum replied. "She'll be shaking a rattle in your face by then."

* * *

 **Do you like her name? If not, why?**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	3. Flying the Coop

_Black Eyes_

* * *

Severus didn't talk about Darla with anyone. No one he associated cared about babies beyond speculating if the fathers on their birth certificates actually had a hand in making them and coveting the silver spoons in their mouths. Even so, Severus didn't really hide her. He used a photo of her taken shortly after his family brought her home to Spinner's End as a marker in the books he read in his free time.

Either no one noticed or no one cared to ask. He reckoned it was the second. Surely they noticed the picture. It was Muggle, for one. And of a baby, for two. While Severus having Muggle paraphernalia wasn't unexpected given his parentage, the picture itself did have to be odd. Severus knew he was the last person anyone expected to be all but flaunting such a photo.

But… If no one was interested enough to ask, that was just fine by him. It was a relief, even. She was about as interesting as anyone else's baby and that meant she was already blending into this world she'd one day be a part of like him. In fact, Severus actually feared for the day people started to show an interest in her, then he'd have to start worrying what kind of intentions they had for Darla. He didn't want to become a cliché, but he did want to keep Darla safe from harm. Especially harm that could ruin or kill her.

All talk about Darla, for now, was just between him and his mother. Severus was happy with that.

-o-O-o-

Severus shrank his last box of things down to the size of a small apple and then put it in the front pocket of his robe alongside his currently banana-sized school trunk. When he heard the soft creak of feet on floorboards, he turned around to see his mother standing in the doorway of his and Darla's bedroom. She'd grown thinner in the last couple of years. Though, if it was from the stress of raising a baby again or from not eating as much as a way to save money, Severus couldn't say.

On her hip sat his not-quite-two-year-old sister, sucking on a piece of bread slathered with condensed milk. A feeling of guilt thrust itself into Severus's sternum. Darla should be eating better food than that, like cheese or berries. "I'll send home some of my paychecks," he told his mum.

She clucked her tongue and said, "No, you won't. Old man Mulpepper might pay a decent wage, but you ought to be putting some of it away for you, not giving it to me."

"But—"

"—No, Severus. I won't hear of it," she scolded. "Now, come give your sister a proper goodbye. With work, mates, and your other activities, I'll bet my pocket-change we won't be seeing you much at all before Christmas."

As Severus went to take Darla from his mother, he assured her, "I'm sure I can stop by at least a time or two before then."

His mum only pursed her lips.

Once Darla had an arm around his neck and he had a firm hold on her waist, he turned all his attention to the baby. "I'm going to stop by when I can, Darla," he told her.

She continued to suck on her piece of bread, her eyes – a depthless black identical to his own – untroubled, but watchful.

Severus gently tickled her beneath the chin and ignored the way it made his fingers both damp and sticky. "Don't you have anything to say to your favorite brother before I go?"

" _Only_ brother," his mum murmured off to the side.

Good-naturedly, Severus rolled his eyes and then quirked an eyebrow at his sister. "Well?" he asked.

Finally, Darla took what was left of the soggy bread out of her mouth and mumbled, "Sev."

"Can you say bye?"

"Bye," she replied. "Bye!"

He chuckled and held Darla a little tighter a moment before handing her back to Mum. Placing a parting kiss on the woman's cheek, Severus promised, "I'll write you in a couple of days to let you know how things are going."

"I'll hold you to that," teased his mum.

He smirked. "Of course, a man should be held accountable for the promises he makes."

-o-O-o-

Severus loathed to admit it, but his mum turned out to be more right than wrong. Work, going out for pints with old schoolmates, and Death Eater meetings and missions took up so much of his time that on his days off Severus didn't even really have them off. On those days he caught up on errands, brewing potions for his personal needs, and studying for his Potions Mastery.

Even so, shortly before Halloween, he made a point of stopping by Spinner's End to pay his mother and sister a visit while Dad was at work. With a fancy tin of tea in one hand and a wooden puzzle that was Muggle enough his dad was unlikely to notice it was _not_ in the crook of the hand's arm, he knocked on the door of his childhood home. When it opened a moment later to reveal his mother, he grinned.

"I told you I'd find some time to stop by."

She smiled back at him. "You did." His mum then stepped aside, letting him into the house. "Darla, sweet, come here!" Mum called as Severus shut the door. A minute later, his sister's small face appeared around the frame of the drawing room's threshold. "Look who has come to pay us a visit! It's your brother."

Severus used his free hand to pull the puzzle from his elbow's crook and hold it out to his sister. "I have a puzzle for you," he told her. "It's of ducks swimming in a pond. Mum wrote me you quite like watching the birds in the garden, so I thought you might like this."

She stepped fully out into the hallway. "Me?" she inquired, disbelief clear in her tone.

"Why, yes," he answered, trying to ignore his sister's surprise. He had a feeling Darla was already picking up on the fact their father found them to be lacking. Since she wasn't good enough for their father, surely she wasn't good enough for nice gifts. He remembered thinking like that when he was little (if Severus was honest, he had never stopped. When it came to things he really wanted, he often felt he didn't deserve them). "Unless Dad or Mum has gained a sudden interest in birds?" he joked.

Darla giggled at that. Then, with a happy bounce in her step, she trotted over to Severus to take the puzzle. "Yay!" she chirped while watching the ducks on the puzzle slowly drift across the blue of the pond.

He rested his hand on top of her blonde head a moment. "I'm glad you like it." Then, getting to his feet, he gave his mum the tea. "And this is for you."

She responded by kissing his cheek. "Thank you, darling. You didn't have to get me this…"

"I wanted to," he insisted. "You deserve nice things now and then."

His mum smiled up at him, black eyes shining like newly cut obsidian. "Why don't I go put on the kettle for us?"

"Sounds lovely." Turning his attention to his little sister, who was still admiring her put-together puzzle, Severus said, "Come, Darla. We're going to the kitchen for some tea."

"Hmph."

He rolled his eyes at the toddler's attitude. "If you come with, we can do the puzzle together at the table."

That got the little girl's attention. Looking up suspiciously at him under her neat fringe, she declared, "I do pieces."

"Yes, yes, you can put it together. I'll just… direct."

She beamed.

Severus smirked back at Darla before taking her hand and leading her into the kitchen where Mum was waiting for them.

-o-O-o-

In the wee hours of the morning, Severus was pulled from sleep by a persistent trilling from his flat's main room. He buried his face deeper into his pillow a moment, hoping it would go away. When the trilling didn't stop, however, he groaned tiredly before swinging his feet out of bed. Stumbling into the main room of his flat, he spent a moment trying to identify what it was making the noise. Soon enough, his eyes landed on the enchanted Muggle telephone hung on the wall by the door.

Severus was immediately as awake as he would be on his second cup of tea. His mother had pushed and pushed that phone on him, wanting it there in case of an emergency. That way if anything happened to her, he could be reached easily and quickly by his dad or a concerned neighbor. Hot with panic, Severus all but sprinted across the small room and answered the phone:

"Hello?"

* * *

 **Any predictions for next chapter?**

 **Thank you for reading :)**


	4. Unexpected Responsibilities

_Black Eyes_

* * *

The spring sun was unusually hot on Severus's shoulders and he could feel the damp of sweat beginning on the back of his neck. Readjusting his grip on Darla's small hand, he chanced a glance away from the sight of their parents' caskets in their freshly dug graves to the priest reciting the typical funeral prayers. The middle-aged man looked as warm as Severus felt and was absently dabbing at his perspiring forehead with a handkerchief every now and then as he hurried through the typical internment prayers.

Severus then looked out of the corner of his eyes at the others in attendance. There were very few. A couple of work and pub mates of his father and the neighbor woman and her mother, who'd called Severus after she'd been entrusted with Darla by one of the firemen who had been at the fire that killed his parents. He looked down at the top of his sister's head. It was pulled into two neat plaits. Severus would have to find a way to thank the neighbor woman's mother for doing Darla's hair for him. His own attempts had all ended with his sister's hair looking like a niffler's nest and Darla nearly in tears from the pain of him tugging at snarls he made and having to hold still for far longer than a toddler had the attention span for.

A tantruming sister was the last thing Severus had needed on the day of their parents' funeral.

Abruptly, he was pulled from his thoughts when the priest started the Lord's Prayer. Severus joined him and the rest of the mourners in reciting the prayer. When done, they all took turns throwing a handful of dirt into his parents' graves. As he helped Darla throw her dirt into the graves, he explained, "We're going to leave now. If you have anything you want to say to Mum and Dad before we go, you should say it now."

His sister met his gaze and gave a small, solemn nod. Returning her attention to their parents, she said, "Bye Mummy and Daddy. Miss you."

Severus looked behind him. The women and men who'd come to his parents' burial had followed the priest to the graveyard's gate to give him and Darla a bit of privacy. He rested his hands on his sister's shoulders a moment. "I'll take good care of Darla, Mum," he promised. Migrating his hands up to cover his sister's ears, he hissed, "I hope you rot in Hell, old man. For nearly twenty years Mum has been telling you not to smoke in the bloody house, but what did you do? Smoked in the house and now you've killed her and left Darla an orphan."

He wished he could spit in his father's grave, but doing so in view of not only his sister, but the priest and other mourners would be horribly uncouth. Instead, he settled for sneering at his dad's casket as he picked up his sister to leave.

-o-O-o-

"Absolutely not."

Severus yanked his sister back to his side for the fourth time in as many minutes since they entered the apothecary. "No, Darla!" he snapped at her before returning his attention to Mr. Mulpepper. "She wouldn't get in the way," he assured. "I'd put up an age line and keep her in the break room. She's really–" Severus grunted when his sister tried once again to run off at full throttle to explore the apothecary. "–That's it!" he hissed. Bending down, he lifted Darla into his arms and held her firmly in spite of the way she wriggled to get away.

"Nooo!" she complained.

"She's really quite good. Quiet too," he told his boss.

The old man brought a liver-spotted hand to his temple and began to massage it. "I know you're a clever lad, Snape," he said, "so I'm going to pretend this poppycock you just tried to sell me didn't happen."

"Sir–"

Mulpepper motioned for Severus to shut up. "No, young man." The old man glanced around the apothecary a moment, then he took Severus by the arm and led him into the back of his shop away from the gossipmongers Severus was forced to call his colleagues. Once there, Mr. Mulpepper used the privacy spell Severus created and taught him when he first started working for the old man. Once done, he met Severus's gaze dead on and told him, "You've been a reliable employee the past couple of years. I would hate to lose you over your… _acquisition_.

"Now, I don't want you to breathe a word of this to any of your coworkers. I can't have them thinking I'm playing favorites, but I'm going to give you a bit of a raise, and today off and tomorrow to make arrangements for your sister. If you don't have things in hand the day after tomorrow when you come into work, you're gone, lad."

For a moment, he could only stare at the old man in shock and wonderment. "You–" he sputtered. Then, quickly shuffling his sister to one arm, he reached out to shake Mr. Mulpepper's hand, hoping to convey the true depth of his gratitude. "Thank you, sir. You don't know how much this means to me."

He smirked at Severus. "You've got a keen eye for measuring and some fairly brilliant ideas for new potions, I want to keep you around. You're bound to make me a small fortune one of these days with some concoction or other."

"Thank you again, sir."

Mr. Mulpepper put a guiding hand on Severus's shoulder as he saw him out. "Don't forget now, I expect you here at seven AM sharp on Thursday!" he proclaimed as he opened the apothecary's door for him.

He nodded. "Yes, sir."

-o-O-o-

Finished with cleaning up from supper, Severus cast a quick look around the room. He furrowed his brow a moment, then, with a dawning idea, crouched down to look under the kitchen table. He smirked partly in amusement, partly in relief when he saw his little sister looking at one of her picture books beneath. "Hey," he called.

She hardly spared him a look before going back to her book.

"I'm going to pop out on the terrace a moment, okay?"

Darla nodded, but otherwise didn't react.

He sighed. "When I come back you're taking a bath, understood?"

Her shoulders hunched around her ears and she scowled into her book. Severus closed his eyes a moment; he knew it was going to be a fight with her when he came back from having a smoke. For now, though, he wasn't going to think about it. He had other matters to consider. Such as what he was going to do with Darla. He had to go back to work at Mulpepper's tomorrow and he still didn't have anyone to mind his sister while he was gone.

Getting to his feet, Severus let his thoughts carry him out to the terrace. As he lit his cigarette, he thought of yet another problem. He'd been lucky this last week, not once had he been called by the Lord. However, it was extremely unlikely things would stay that way. What was he going to do with Darla when the Lord demanded his presence?

Severus needed more than just a day-minder. He needed a full-time nanny. But how in the Hell was he going to afford that? Not to mention finding someone who was trustworthy (or unscrupulous) enough to not sell him out to the Aurors?

He breathed out a cloud of smoke and scanned Knockturn's Alley below. A teenage girl of about sixteen stepped out of the shadows of the building located diagonally from his terrace. Severus watched on with disinterested eyes as she posed salaciously for an older wizard walking past her. The wizard didn't even spare her a glance. The girl didn't immediately meld back into the shadows, however.

Instead, she dropped her pose for something more dejected and just stood there, watching people walk by her. Severus noted she looked thin. Almost unhealthily so. He had a feeling she was having a poor time of being a prostitute. An idea coming to him, he put out his cigarette and hurried back inside. What he was going to do would either turn out horribly or brilliantly.

Making a beeline for the table, he reached under it for his sister and dragged her out.

"No!" she complained.

Severus ignored Darla's whining in favor of tucking her under his arm so he could rush out of his flat to the street below. Once down there, he looked around, searching for the teenage prostitute. After a moment, he spotted her sinking back into the alleyway between the two buildings she'd come out of in the first place.

"Hey!" he yelled at her. "Wait!"

The teenager froze, eyes large.

As Severus got closer, he realized why it might be she hadn't had many takers. The lower right side of her face was covered with an ugly burn scar. Only a drunkard or half-blind man (or woman) would be interested in her. While the half-blind were probably a favored clientele of the teenager, he doubted she took on many drunks. They had a tendency to be volatile in his experience.

Severus took a deep breath. Here he went.

"How would you like free room and board?"

She blinked. Then, frowning, asked, "In exchange fer wha'?"

"Nannying my kid sister," he answered, holding up Darla for her to see.

The prostitute crinkled her freckled nose. "Tha' it?"

"Yeah."

She crossed her arms. "I wan' it in writin'."

He grinned at her, pleased with the teenager's shrewdness. Perhaps it was a good sign for him and Darla. If not, Severus would be sure to include a clause that allowed him to kick the prostitute out of his flat at his discretion. "Of course," agreed Severus.

* * *

 **Thoughts on these turn of events guys?**

 **Thanks a million for reading!**


	5. Edie The Nanny And Her Wand

_Black Eyes_

* * *

Edie turned out to be exactly what Severus needed. She knew how to keep a flat, ways to entertain a toddler who wasn't allowed to go outside very often, and didn't mind that her bed was a cot behind some charity shop room dividers in the main area of his flat. Severus knew he ought to do the responsible thing and question Edie about herself and her origins, but something always got in the way of him sitting her down to do so. Such as fixing messes made by Darla's accidental magic, working late for Mr. Mulpepper for a little extra pay, or Death Eater meetings and missions.

After a while, Severus just gave up. Edie was a good nanny and seemed to know just how to keep Darla clean, healthy, and content. He didn't really need to know how a sixteen-year-old prostitute came to learn how to run a household, just that she could was enough. Any more and Severus might begin to wonder if Edie really was the best choice for a nanny (but of course he knew she wasn't, she had been a _whore_ ).

One evening, however, as Severus and Edie shared a bottle of cheap wine after equally long days, she decided to take it upon herself to tell him about her past. "Yeh know, I hadn' been a whore all tha' long before yeh came along."

He looked up from the sanguine liquid in his glass. "Oh?"

Edie nodded her head before she rested her chin in her hand. "Yeah. Before I was a whore, I lived with me aun' an' uncle an' their lil'ones. I cared fer 'em all while she an' Uncle Gary worked." Edie stroked a finger over her scar. "Uncle Gary gave me this one nigh' a year back when he caugh' me flirtin' with the neighbor. Said he didn' raise me ter be no tart. Tha's when I decided I was goin' ter run away."

Severus made a noise of understanding. Then, because he wasn't entirely sure he hadn't just been oblivious to her existence in the past, he asked, "Did you ever go to Hogwarts?"

The teenager scoffed. "Yeh jokin', right? Yeh'd have _seen_ me there if I did. I know yer not tha' much older'n me. So, no, I didn' go. There was no way me aun' an' uncle were goin' ter not only waste money on me, but lose their slave too."

Severus began to drum his fingers along the tabletop. His dad had been shit, but at least he'd let him go to Hogwarts. He couldn't imagine a life where he hadn't gone. He'd have killed himself ages ago. As he ruminated on his own parents and Edie's aunt and uncle, a new question popped into his mind. Looking at Edie, he asked, "Can you do magic at all?"

"A bit," she answered. "Nothin' too spectacular."

He bobbed his head and mused over the fact he _had_ been looking for another way to pay Edie back for being such a superb nanny to his sister… "Have you ever wanted to learn how to do it properly?"

She stared back at him, hazel eyes searching. After a moment, she seemed to find what she was looking for, as she answered, "Ev'ry day."

Severus finished his glass and got to his feet. Leaving Edie at the table, he carefully opened his bedroom door and crept past his sister's cot and to his old school trunk. Opening it, he pulled out all of his charms, transfiguration, and defense books. Balancing the collection in his hands, he carried them out to the kitchen table. Setting the stack down, he said, "You start reading these for me and in the meantime, I'll begin to put money away for a wand for you. I reckon by the end of next month we can make a trip to Ollivander's to buy you one.

"Then I can teach you how to really do magic."

Mouth parted with shock, the teenager said nothing. Then, she began to furiously shake her head. "No, no, I can't le' yeh be wastin' yer free time on me…"

"That is not for you to decide." Picking out his second-year charms book, he handed it off to her. "I'd start with this one. It has the most comprehensive and straightforward explanation on why precise wand movements is a must for spell-casting."

Tears glossing her eyes, Edie brought the book up to hide her shaking lips and sniffled, "Why…?"

"You have been an excellent nanny to my sister and do a fine job of keeping all questions that do not pertain to Darla or the running of this household to yourself. In the times that we live, that is an admirable trait from an employee in addition to your many other skills. I know of house elves who can't manage half of what you do daily."

Severus was thrown when a moment later a pair of skinny arms wrapped themselves around him. "Thank yeh," Edie mumbled into his chest. "Yer the best man I've ever had the pleasure o' knowin'."

He winced. He didn't deserve her praise. Severus had no illusions about how good a man he was. For Edie to think of him so highly for just wanting to give her something that really was her right as a witch in return for a job well done made him feel all the worse about himself. Placing one of his hands on her back, he said, "Thank you, Edie, but I do not deserve such high praise. I am doing what is right, nothing more."

She pulled away slightly, looking up at him with her wet, worshipful eyes. "Sure yeh do. Most men don' even manage tha'."

Severus closed his eyes and sighed. This wasn't something worth arguing about. Once Edie knew how to do magic with a wand and became significantly more employable, she would be able to leave him and get a better job than being a nanny and meet greater men and learn the truth he already knew. She would see he was right in time.

Until then, was it really so terrible to let her think so highly of him? It felt… _nice_.

-o-O-o-

When the next month finally came, Severus decided to make the trip to Ollivander's an event for both Darla and Edie. Darla had never been and he had a feeling neither had Edie. As far as Severus was concerned, anyone's first time to a wand shop should be treated with some amount of fanfare. In the name of this conviction, he had Edie dress his sister in her magenta robe with the fancy gold clasp and her Mary Janes. Then he gave her the good robe he'd bought the other day from the secondhand shop for her to wear.

"Wha's this?" she asked as she felt the shimmery gray fabric.

He didn't look at Edie as he brushed out Darla's blonde locks. "What you're wearing today to Ollivander's."

She pushed it across the table toward him. "No, I can't a'cept this. Yer buyin' me a wand already."

Severus pushed it right back at her. "You will. I'm not taking you to Ollivander's in that shabby thing."

Edie looked down at the dull, several times patched red robe she wore. "It don' look tha' bad…" she protested. "I darned it again jus' las' week."

"Wear it, Edie."

She looked between her robe and the one on the table. Then at him. Whatever she found when looking at Severus seemed to convince her trying to row with him was a piss-poor idea. "Fine, but I'm keepin' me old one."

"As you like. I don't care what you do with your old robe as long as you wear the new one to the shop."

The teenager took off her robe and slipped the new one over her shoulders. As he tied Darla's hair into two tails, he watched out of the corner of his eye as Edie admired her reflection in the kitchen window. He smirked in satisfaction. He knew she would like it.

Severus blinked when he felt a pair of little hands cup around his ear. "Edie's pretty," Darla whispered.

"You think so?" he replied. Smirk now a grin, Severus tickled his little sister beneath the chin until she was giggling. When her face was pink from pleasure and lips curved in a smile, he told her, "But not as pretty as _you_."

-O-

Righting the boxes of wands she'd knocked to the ground while using the wrong wand, Ollivander made a face of contemplation before he picked up one of the other three he'd brought out for Edie to test. "Give this one a try," he told her. "It's a rather flexible nine-inch cedar with a unicorn hair core."

Face wrought with fear of causing yet another mess, Edie cringed as she gave a very small wave of the wand. Instead of destruction or noxious slime spewing from the end of it, however, an array of yellow and red sparks shot from the tip.

"Excellent!" Mr. Ollivander exclaimed, clapping. "We've found it."

Eyes on her wand, Edie whispered, "Wow."

Severus nudged his sister toward Edie. "Why don't you go ask for a closer look while I pay Mr. Ollivander?"

Darla bobbed her head agreeably before approaching the teenager. Giving her nanny's robe a tug, she said, "Gimme look-see."

Smiling down at his sister, Edie asked, "Yeh want ter hold it?"

"Yeah!"

Severus watched on as the teenager knelt down next to his sister and put the wand in her hand. Then, with her own hand wrapped around Darla's, she gave the wand a wave, shooting off an array of rainbow bubbles in the process. Both stared at them with expressions of awe. Severus had a feeling both would look back on this day fondly for years to come.

'Good, they deserve something lighter to carry for once,' thought Severus. He then shook his head and turned to Mr. Ollivander. "How much do I owe you for the wand?"

* * *

 **How did you like learning about Edie's past a little?**

 **Thank you for reading!**


	6. Chance Encounters

_Black Eyes_

* * *

"Darla!" Severus hissed.

The little girl looked up from the tower she was making with the selection of books Severus was browsing. With guileless eyes, she asked, "Yes?"

It was on the tip of his tongue to yell at the not-quite-four-year-old for mistreating the shop's books, but then he thought better of it. It wasn't Darla's fault she was bored. He was the one taking too long to compare the texts he possibly wanted to buy. Making a snap decision about which of the three titles he was going to purchase, he put the other two away and knelt down beside his little sister. "I've got my book. You need to put these back now – where you found them."

As she looked at her tower and then at the empty space on the shelves, the girl's lip puckered into a pout. "I don't 'member where they go."

Severus bit back a sigh. Even so, he was quite certain his irritation leaked into his tone as he explained, "It's alphabetical. So Ogord will go before O'Shaunassey and so forth. This is also why we do not play with a shop's books like they are building blocks."

As he helped her with her task and prompted her occasionally to sing the alphabet so Darla could recall where letters fell in relation to each other, Severus became aware of the sound of footsteps from behind only to have them to stop abruptly beside him.

He looked up as a familiar woman said, "Severus?"

Scrambling to shove the last of the books into their spots, Severus swung his sister up on his hip and kept the book he was buying tightly clutched to his chest. Blood beating like a drumbeat in his ears, he breathed, "Lily." His eyes drifted down to her protruding middle for a moment; a feeling of loss, regret, and anger began warring inside him. If he hadn't cocked things up in his fifth year, that could be his baby. But, instead, it was that damn Potter's…

"How do you do?" Lily asked, causing his gaze to snap back to her achingly beautiful green eyes.

"Well, thank you," Severus answered rotely. "And you?"

Lily rested one of her hands on the swell of her stomach. "I'm just fine." Her own eyes darted between him and Darla, questioning, even as her lips remained firmly closed.

He gave his sister a small bounce. "This is Darla, my sister." Severus then turned his attention to the little girl and told her, "This is Lily, an old schoolmate."

"Oh. That's nice. Are you watching her for the day?" Lily asked, looking more worried than actually joyful at the news.

As he was about to reply, Darla said, "No. I live with Sev. Mummy an' Daddy are gone."

The woman's brow furrowed a moment, then with dawning realization, she murmured, "Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't know…"

Severus did his best to shrug while holding Darla and his book. "Don't be. It's not as if I made any kind of announcement in the papers."

An awkward silence filled the air between them a moment. Finally, Lily remarked, "Brotherhood seems to suit you."

"It has been difficult at times, but Darla is so very worth it," he replied, glancing at her pregnant stomach once more.

Lily nodded, a slight smile on her lips. "Good. Good…" She reached out and took one of Darla's hands and gave it a shake. "It has been nice meeting you, Darla." Her eyes then connected with Severus's. "I'm glad to see you are doing well."

He smiled in return. "You too," he said, truly meaning it. He hurt knowing she was happy without him in her life, but he'd never wish the pain he feels on her. Severus did so hate to see her cry when he could call her a friend.

-o-O-o-

When he and Darla returned home to their flat a while later, he put her down and said, "Why don't you go play with one of your puzzles?"

She happily went to where her toys were spread out around the flat's sofa and sat down to play. Once he felt she was fully occupied, he cast a muffliato charm on her, ensuring she would hear nothing of what he said to Edie. Severus then turned around to where Edie was sitting at the kitchen table, pouring over one of his old textbooks with a cup of tea in hand.

The teenager raised an eyebrow at him in question. Walking over, he collapsed into the seat across from her and just stared at her a moment. "I ran into an old classmate while Darla and I were at the bookstore in Diagon."

Edie lifted her eyebrows in surprise. "Oh?"

"We used to be best mates as kids," Severus went on.

She put her cup down and put her arms on the table. Leaning in she mumbled, "Is tha' so?"

"During my fifth year, I was an idiot and called her a Mudblood. She refused to have anything to do with me after that."

"Ah, sorry ter hear tha'. Guessin' she was one?"

He nodded. "Yes, Lily's a Muggleborn."

Edie's eyes sparked with understanding. "Yeh've talked about her before. Tha's the one yeh loved, isn' tha' righ'?"

"Love," Severus corrected. "Even now, I love Lily. I wish her all of the best… Even if it's with that prat, Potter, and his soon-to-be-spawn."

The teenager hummed thoughtfully at his words. "Up the duff, was she?"

"Very."

Edie stroked one of his legs with her foot beneath the table. In another situation, he'd think she was coming onto him, but right now, it felt as if she was just trying to comfort him the only way she knew how when so little of him was in her reach. It wouldn't surprise him at all if she thought footsie could be a platonic action. She'd proven more and more as time went on she didn't have a clear idea of what was romantic and what was chaste affection and comfort. He had to start helping her differentiate the two after he saw Edie kiss Darla on the lips when she was crying about a scrape she got from a tumble shortly after he hired her.

Sometimes, he wished she'd tell him exactly who her aunt and uncle were so he could go and curse them. They undoubtedly deserved it for what they did to her face alone, but add in these other… _issues_ Edie had and he wanted them both dead. Especially her uncle. No, her aunt. She'd stood by and allowed Edie's understanding of tenderness to be warped to a degree where Severus was now in the position of having to try and fix it when and where he could.

"Tha' sucks," she said.

Severus sighed and crossed his legs before he put his elbows on the table. Resting his heads in his hands, he agreed, "It does." Pulling his textbook toward him so he could see what the teenager was teaching herself now, he told her, "For future reference, footsie is something you do with one you have a romantic interest in, not when you are trying to comfort another adult. If you want to show sympathy hold their hand or offer to make them tea."

Thankfully, Edie was long since past feeling embarrassed from Severus correcting her and took his chastisement with aplomb. "Okay," she said. "Would yeh like me ter make yeh tea, then?"

"If you'd like, I would appreciate it."

"Tha' settles it," she replied, getting to her feet.

The conversation now over, Severus took out his wand and canceled the muffliato charm on his sister. Thumbing through the pages of his Transfiguration textbook, Severus began to contemplate what spells he should start having Edie practice as he listened to her make him tea.

* * *

 **How did you like Severus's run-in with Lily? The later scene with Edie?**

 **If you'd like Lily's perspective on the first scene, there's a companion one-shot called _A Tiny Miracle_ you all can check out.**

 **Thank you all so much for reading!**


	7. Midnight Panic

_Black Eyes_

* * *

Severus entered his flat with a clatter. Almost immediately after, Edie emerged from behind the main room's dividers. It was clear he'd woken the teenager; her hair was a mess, the plait she'd put it in before bed was half unraveled, and her expression muzzy.

"Sev'rus?"

He flicked his wand at his and Darla's bedroom door, casting a silencing charm upon it. It was a miracle Darla hadn't come out already. Much like himself, she was a light sleeper and the amount of noise he just made could have easily drawn her out of slumber and to his side. While he tried to take control of his panicked breathing Edie summoned one of the kitchen chairs over for him to sit on.

"Take a seat," she urged. "Yer knees look like they're about ter collapse on yeh."

Gratefully, Severus fell into the offered chair. Once sitting, he trained his gaze on his feet and waited for the beating of his heart to slow. When he felt a bit more normal, he looked up. Edie stood a couple of steps back, shifting from foot to foot, long, thin brows knit together with worry.

"Any better?" she asked.

Severus shook his head. "I've done something terrible," he whispered.

Edie got on her knees and enclosed his shaking hands in hers. Gaze soft, she asked, "Wha' happened?"

He explained how he overheard a prophecy told by Sybil Trelawney at the Hog's Head a few months ago and then told it to the Lord who'd come to decide since the end of July that the prophecy was referencing two potential children. One of them being Harry Potter, Lily's son.

"Lily… The bird yeh love?"

Severus gave a jerky nod of his head. "Yes."

"Yeh think the Lord'll kill her too?" Edie asked, alarmed.

"If she gets in the way, he will. He wants her damn son _dead_."

The teenager puckered her lips with distaste. "'Cause he could one day be his downfall?"

Severus choked down a sob. "Yes."

"Well, it's obvious wha' yeh need ter do," she replied, a grim resolve overcoming her features.

He opened his mouth, then shut it. After a time searching Edie's gaze to try and figure out what it was she thought he ought to do, at a loss, he finally asked, "What is that?"

"Tell her."

He jerked out of the teenager's hold violently. Tell her? Was Edie mental? Lily would hate him even more than she already did! If she even cared to listen to him, a Death Eater, that was. "I can't! Lily probably won't even _listen_ to me. I'm a Death Eater and she's— She's—" He raked his hand through his hair and whispered, "…A part of the Order, and fighting against me." A new, previously unconsidered thought thrust itself to the forefront of his mind. "Like her husband," he added in a low, loathful tone. "Merlin, if Potter is there when I visit, who's to say he won't curse me dead on sight? And if he does let me near enough to speak to them, believe me? He might think it's all some kind of trick. And convince Lily the same!"

Edie grabbed one of his hands back in between her own and squeezed it. "Yeh hafter try!" she cried. "Things went fine when yeh ran into her before, didn' they? Who's ter say the same won' happen with her husband? Yer all well out o' school now."

"Yes, but—"

Her grip turned painful and Severus winced. Eyes smoldering with fury, Edie argued, "Yeh can't le' them an' their itty baby die, Sev'rus. He didn' do nothin' to deserve wha's comin' his way."

He sighed. Trust Edie to focus in on the baby; she seemed to have a particular soft spot for the tiny banshees (Merlin knew why, he'd always been quietly grateful he missed most of that phase with Darla). However, Severus wasn't so sure telling Lily himself was the best idea still. Maybe–

"Wha' if the fortellin' was about Darla an' Lily overheard?" Edie murmured, her touch now kind and caressing. "Wouldn' yeh want her ter tell yeh from her own mouth?"

Severus's eyes went to his and Darla's bedroom door. Would he? Would Severus prefer to hear it from Lily? Perhaps a more apt comparison was would Severus prefer to hear about the prophecy from someone he disliked (how he hoped she just disliked him these days, not out and out hated him), such as Lupin or Pettigrew? It took all of a few seconds to decide, yes, he truly would. If he heard it from the thestral's mouth it would make checking their claims far easier – what, with their memories and minds accessible right there and then to him – and they'd be able to answer many of the questions he would have immediately afterward too.

If it were Severus he would also prefer to hear about the Lord's plans as soon as possible.

He breathed in deeply and nodded. "Alright, I will tell Lily myself." He chuckled and smiled shakily at Edie. "I will visit her in the morning. Godric's sword, isn't it fortuitous tomorrow is my day off from Mulpepper's?"

Eyes holding a sorrowful note, the teenager dropped her gaze to their hands. She continued to run her thumb over the top of his hand in slow, small circles. "There's no luck about it, Sev'rus. Yeh'd be goin' no matter wha' in the mornin'. Even now, we have ter hope that's not too late fer 'em"

Severus paled, perturbed at Edie's speculation. Surely the Lord wouldn't send someone after Lily's son so soon? He nearly got to his feet, prepared to make sure Lily and her family were well and watch until morning to speak with them before he recalled the Lord mentioned he would be hand-picking the followers who'd go to kill the children.

Yet he said nothing of this to Edie. It would only upset her more, he reckoned. She'd likely start to worry he'd be chosen to go kill one of the babe's, seeing as he was growing more and more respected by the day by the Lord.

Finally, he nodded. "Yes, I suppose you're right," Severus whispered, voice hoarse from fatigue.

-o-O-o-

On his way to the Potters' home, Severus masked his path by disapparating a number of times to several places that were never quite on his way to Lily and Potter's. He would then wait in those locations for a short time, looking for anything or anyone that seemed out of place, before taking a short walk to where he needed to be to get closer to the Potters' house.

Finally, after nearly an hour and a half of exhaustive travel, he stood on the edge of the Potter's property. He stared at the house. It was far larger than his childhood home on Spinner's End, over twice the size of Lily's house growing up, and even a bit bigger than the tenement building he lived in now. Wistfully, he thought about how he used to dream of buying a house like this when he was young for himself and his mum.

Shame it never came to fruition. Perhaps for Darla…

Stepping forward, Severus felt the wards on the property take notice of him. Instead of moving forward, he decided to wait and see if anyone would emerge from the house. A minute later, his old bully appeared. Even from a distance, Severus could tell the other man was utterly and totally bewildered at the sight of him. One hand was propped on his hip and the other kept drifting from his side to his head, where it would ruffle his already askew hair.

"Snape?" Potter called, his tone holding a note of uncertainty.

Severus stepped forward and said, "Yes." After a beat, he said, "I need to speak with you."

" _Me_?"

He nodded. "And Lily."

"Of course," Potter muttered just loud enough to be heard before he fell silent for a time. Just as Severus was starting to believe he ought to say something to convince the man of his sincerity, Potter narrowed his eyes at him and declared, "I want your wand."

Severus didn't hesitate a moment and pulled it from his sleeve and held it out for Potter to take.

"Accio wand!" the other man yelled.

He did his best not to flinch as his wand flew from his grip.

After another beat between them, Potter tucked Severus's wand away and waved him over. "Alright, come in."

Severus tried to ignore his sinking stomach as he took the walk up to where Potter waited by his open front door.

* * *

 **How do you think the meeting will go between Severus and the Potters?**

 **Thanks for reading :)**


	8. Grim Tidings

_Black Eyes_

* * *

Lily was so pale her red hair stood out against her face like blood. Severus tamped down on the urge to shiver and shifted his gaze over to Potter. He didn't look much better with his skin as white as a day-old corpse's. It felt like he was getting a glimpse of a possible (horrible) future and he didn't like it at all. Severus moved to pull his wand from his sleeve to give his hands something to hold and fiddle with, but aborted the action halfway through when he recalled Potter had confiscated his wand before he was allowed inside his and Lily's home.

"He wants our baby dead?" Lily whispered.

Severus gave a small nod of his head. "Especially yours. He… I believe the Lord's rather certain it's your son, in particular, the prophecy is speaking of."

"No," whimpered his ex-friend as she sank into her husband's side.

In spite of his own grief, Potter put his arms around Lily and squeezed her tightly. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "It's going to be okay," he mumbled. Then, he looked up at Severus. His gaze loathful, grateful, and confused. "Why?" he asked.

"Why?" Severus parroted, not following.

Hold becoming even more protective, Potter jutted out his chin and said, "Yes, why. Why are you telling us? What are you hoping to gain, Snape?"

"Nothing!" he answered immediately. Of course, that wasn't true. Lily and Potter knew it too, as their gazes turned even more pointed at his thoughtless reply. Severus sighed and turned a beseeching look upon Lily— The only one he truly wanted safe. "I know we are not friends and I know you want nothing to do with me anymore, but I… I still care about you. You gave me far too many good memories to _not_. I don't want you dead." He glanced at Potter then and added, like an afterthought, "Nor you, or your son."

Which, was true, if reluctantly so. They made Lily happy and he'd like her happy in addition to alive, if possible.

"Thank you, Snape," Potter said after a few moments of silence. "I appreciate you warning us." He frowned. "Even if this is all your fault to start with."

Severus cringed. "If I had known–"

"Fat lot of good that does us," said Potter, cutting off his plaintive reply.

His fingers itched for his wand. Severus knew he'd buggered up – monumentally at that – he didn't need Potter snapping at him for it. He was here, he was trying to fix things. Didn't that warrant at least some cordial treatment? "Perhaps not," he conceded through clenched teeth. "However, I would say my presence here today does _a lot_ of good. Otherwise, it is highly likely you would be oblivious to the Lord's plot for your son and sitting ducks for whatever he has planned."

Potter narrowed his eyes, but before he could think of something pointed to say in return, Lily, through her stupor of misery, picked up on the tense air between them. While keeping a strong grip on Potter's hand for strength and comfort, she pulled herself upright and informed Severus, "We'll speak to Dumbledore about what to do now; measures we can take to ensure Harry's safety and our own." A hesitant look overcoming her features, Lily offered, "Perhaps we can speak to him on your behalf as well? If You-Know-Who finds out you warned us… I don't even want to think about what he will do to you and Darla."

"Darla?" Potter mumbled, eyebrows disappearing behind his messy fringe.

Severus considered this. Lily had a point. He didn't want to imagine what the Lord would do to his little sister as retribution for his disloyalty either. Graciously, he accepted her offer. "If you would, I'd be very appreciative."

She smiled slightly. "Of course. After what you've done to protect my little boy, the least I can offer is the same to your little sister."

"Sister!"

He looked at Potter. "Yes, my sister. Her name is Darla and she is four." Severus reached into his robe and pulled out the photo of her he carried with him. It was quite new. In it, she was sitting on his shoulders, blowing a kiss at Edie. Recently the teenager had saved up enough money from working the streets on Severus's days off to buy a camera. For Edie's first several days with it, his little sister and he had been her muses. Severus was still going through all of the photos Edie took of them that first week and was trying to pick the best to put in an album for his little sister.

Soon Severus was hoping Edie would never have to go out on the streets again to make money for things that weren't a necessity. Severus had expressed an interest in the supervisor position that had come up at Mr. Mulpepper's Knockturn location and the old man had returned it with telling him Severus was on his short list of candidates. If he got the promotion, he would be making more than enough money to give Edie a fair allowance to do with as she pleased.

Heads bent together, Potter and Lily stared at the picture. Lily smiled while Potter looked on with wonderment. "She doesn't look much like you at all, does she?"

Severus resisted the urge to snatch the photo away. "Darla has so far shown to favor my mother's side where I take after my father."

"Who took the picture?" asked Lily.

"Darla's nanny."

Potter looked up from the photo, one eyebrow quirked in question. "Don't you work for Mr. Mulpepper's apothecary?"

"And?"

"How in Merlin's name can you afford a _nanny_?"

Lily whacked Potter over the head. "James!" she rebuked.

Severus clamped down on the urge to chuckle, but still found himself smirking. "Edie and I have an arrangement," he answered simply.

"Thank you, again, Severus," Lily said, getting to her feet. Reaching over, she hugged him. Severus, too shocked at the surprise affection, didn't return it. When she pulled away, his ex-best friend promised, "We'll be in touch."

Getting to his feet, he accepted his wand as it was handed to him by James and muttered, "Yes, alright, and thank you."

-o-O-o-

When Severus returned home, his little sister threw herself at his legs. "Sev!" she cried in delight.

He swung her up onto his shoulders and let her stay there as he pulled off his boots and slipped out of his robe. All the while, he listened to her babble at him about her day and the special trip she and Edie made down to Mr. Mulpepper's.

"Mr. Mulpepper gave me a fizzy wizzy when he saw me!"

Severus patted her knee. "Hmm… That's nice," he told Darla while raising an eyebrow at the teenager who paced in front of the kitchen counters. She wouldn't look at him at all.

It was odd and worried Severus. Why did she go to Mulpepper's? What happened to make her so nervous?

Hurrying Darla along in her tale, he lifted her off his shoulders and suggested she pick out a book from her collection in their room for him to read to her. Excitedly, his sister accepted his offer and ran off to do just that. Walking over to the kitchen table, Severus leaned against it and stared over at Edie who'd come to stop in front of the window, arms wrapped tightly around herself.

"What did you go to Mr. Mulpepper's for today?"

She fiddled with her wand in a manner not too dissimilar from how he often did with his own. It seemed this last year spent together had been enough for her to begin to pick up some of his mannerisms. Finally, she whispered, "I'm pregnant."

He fell silent. Well, he hadn't expected her to say that. When the shock began to ebb, he asked, "Is it mine?"

"Could be," she answered honestly, raising her gaze to meet his. Eyes blown wide with fear, she questioned, "Wha' now?"

"I'm not going to kick you out, if that's what you're wondering," Severus replied.

She relaxed marginally. "Can I… Can I keep it?"

Severus knew an infant was going to add to their costs and the allowance he wanted to give Edie was going to become a pittance, but if she wanted to… "Yes. Even if it's not mine, I want you to keep it." He paused, only to quickly tack on, "If that's what you wish for and will make you happy, anyhow."

Tears in her eyes, Edie nodded. "It is wha' I want. Thank yeh, thank yeh!"

Stumbling back from the force of her embrace, Severus lifted a hand to pet Edie's wavy locks. "You're welcome," he said, before pressing a kiss to the top her head.

It felt only right, after the loyalty, care, and comfort she'd given both Severus and his sister, that he give her this in return. And, perhaps, he would not have to fear her leaving them so soon. With an infant to care for, there would be few better jobs out there for her to work that would allow Edie to care for her child at the same time.

* * *

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	9. Dreamy Recollections

_Black Eyes_

* * *

 _Severus stared into his empty whiskey glass. Tilting it toward the light to get a glimpse of the golden traces left by his last drink, Severus contemplated pouring himself another. He lifted his gaze up from the glass to look around the room. It was… Off. He sighed. Another drink would probably push him over into pissed territory. Since bringing home his little sister, he'd made it a point not to get drunk._

 _He'd seen the bruises on his sister's upper arms when he retrieved her from the neighbor's home in the wake of the fire. Before Dad died, the bastard had begun inflicting the abuse Severus knew growing up on Darla. The only difference was instead of fearing belts, she feared the cupboard under the sink. Severus had never before thought he'd grateful for his father's sexist nature, but he was then. Dad may have been grabbing her roughly and hurting her in that way, but he'd not been intentionally beating her as he once did to Severus._

 _Some coaxing on his part had eventually made it clear their father locked Darla in the kitchen cupboard most often after an evening at the pub. After that, he'd promised her (and himself) he would never drink so much he'd want to lock her away beneath the sink come morning. It was an easy promise to make, he thought then, as he'd never cared much for getting bladdered, but he was starting to have second thoughts._

 _Severus got to his feet and with a slight wobble walked over to the window before scanning the street below for Edie. He was tired of her going out. Every time she did, he feared she wouldn't come back. Yet Severus couldn't stop her; he couldn't afford to pay a wage her in addition to free room and board most of the time. Darla needed too many things and caused far too many unexpected expenses, new shoes and new dresses after a growth spurt, books to replace the one she's grown bored of or too old for, replacement curtains for the ones she shredded beyond repair with accidental magic during a tantrum, and so on._

 _If Edie wanted or needed something more than he could provide, and quickly, she had to go out. There was no other way at this time._

 _He turned away from the window when he heard the lock turn. A moment later, Edie walked in, bringing with her the smell of smoke, alcohol, and sex. "Waitin' up fer lil'ol' me?"_

 _Severus grunted noncommittally._

 _Swaying every other step as she made her way over to him, Edie smiled as she boldly took his chin in her hands. "It's so sweet o' yeh." One of her hands drifted down and began to fiddle with the buttons of his waistcoat. "So kind…"_

 _"Of course I will always wait up for you, you're my sister's nanny. Darla adores you," after a beat, he adds, "And I… I quite like you too."_

 _Edie batted her lashes at him. "_ Fancy _-like me?"_

 _He looked away as she actively began to undo his buttons. "Edie…"_

 _"I've never been with a bloke who waits up fer me ter come home, or one who fancy-likes me," she mumbled hot against his throat._

 _Severus swallowed. "This isn't– It's not– We can't–"_

 _The teenager pulled back a moment, and stared at him with glittering hazel eyes and asked, "Why not?"_

 _"You work for me."_

 _She frowned before getting back to work on his buttons, this time, starting with the ones on his trousers. "So_ what _? I don' care. I just wanna be with a gentleman who cares about me fer once. Even if it's only as an employee."_

 _He covered her hands with his. "Edie, look at me."_

 _She raised her gaze and met his head-on. Severus saw determination in her gaze, but desperation, and something he thought might be love too. He sighed. "If you truly want to do this, I… I would like to as well. But if you're doing this because you want to show gratitude or think you have to for keeping your job or for any reason other than because you want to, even if it's just a little, stop right now. I only want to have sex if you want it too, not because you feel obligated to have it with me."_

 _In response, she smashed her mouth into his, dragging him down for a lengthy snog as she continued to undo the last of the buttons on his clothes. In return, Severus pulled up her skirt and ran his hands over the soft warm skin beneath. When Edie finished with undoing all of his buttons and coaxing him out of his shirt and waistcoat, Severus picked her up and had her wrap her legs around his waist before he carried her over to her cot._

 _With a wave of his hand, he had the room dividers close behind them and set Edie down. For a moment, they separated. Breathing heavily, they stared at each other in the darkness. He caressed her scarred cheek. "Beautiful," he murmured._

 _Edie smiled, eyes shimmering, as she placed her own hand atop his, running her thumb across the back of it. Holding his hand in place, she leaned forward and kissed the tip of his nose. "Handsome," she returned in a breathy whisper before she gently began to guide his hand down from her face and to her breasts. Leaning forward, Severus captured her lips in a kiss once more…_

-O-

Severus woke from his dream, or, rather, his memories quite abruptly to the sound of knocking at his bedroom door. Softly he groaned into his arms and considered casting a silencing spell on his door. Surely whatever it was Edie needed could wait? But what if had something to do with the baby? Before he could make his decision, Darla mumbled, "Sev?" from her cot next to his bed.

He reached down and gently pushed her head back against her pillow. "Go back to sleep," he told her. "I'll see what Edie needs."

Getting out of bed, he pulled on his housecoat and walked over to his door, opening it, he frowned. "What is it, Edie? Is something wrong?"

The teenager smiled apologetically. "Sorry," she said. "There's nothin' I need. I know it's hardly dawn, but… An Owl stopped by an' remember how yeh told me ter get yeh immediately if the letter had a certain seal?" She held out the letter to him. "Well, it has that seal!"

Feeling far less disgruntled, but infinitely more anxious, he took the letter from her hand and gently nudged her aside so he could leave his bedroom. Closing the door behind him, he cast a silencing charm on the door as to not accidentally wake Darla again and headed for the sofa. Opening the letter, he read it over once, then a second time, and, finally, a third time.

"Well?" asked Edie, wringing her hands. "What does it say?"

He looked up the parchment and whispered, wide-eyed and shocked, "Dumbledore wants to meet with me."

* * *

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	10. The Meeting

_Black Eyes_

* * *

He told himself he was bringing Edie and Darla to Hogwarts with him when it came time to meet with Dumbledore because he wanted to show the man he truly did have others he needed to protect and that Severus couldn't be some pawn for his Order games, but his heart knew that wasn't the whole truth. Really, Severus wanted Edie there because he was nervous. She was surprisingly even-keel and pragmatic during most situations he'd found— even if she was emotionally compromised when it came to him (and Severus to her, if he were honest with himself) as well as utterly convinced he was the best man to ever walk Knockturn Alley's street.

Severus was certain this could only benefit him, however, since Edie would be highly attuned to him and help Severus to stay calm during initial niceties and smooth things over for him if he started to bungle them. The only downside he foresaw was that Darla, of course, had to come if Edie was going to be there. She was his sister's nanny and while Mr. Mulpepper might actually quite like his well-mannered, puzzle-obsessed sister, he had apothecaries to run and no time for minding a four-year-old on such short notice. Nor could he expect any help from his boss's wife, who Severus last heard was visiting a niece that had recently given birth abroad.

While Severus worried whether his sister would be able to behave herself or no, he was also proud to be able to give Darla a glimpse of Hogwarts before she started her schooling. He imagined it would be something she could brag about during her first ride on the Hogwarts Express to her compartment companions. Severus hoped those she talked to would be impressed, rather than jealous when she did. He wanted her to be liked by her fellow students during her school-years, not hated. Being hated was awful and really wore one down; Severus knew not everyone had the strength to endure such an experience.

Darla may have shown herself to be rather resilient in the face of the trials of the last year, but he wasn't sure how far that resilience stretched nor was he keen to test it.

When they stepped through the floo into Dumbledore's office, the old man rose from his desk to greet them. While he was smiling and greeted them politely as he shook all of their hands and offered tea, Severus could see the bemusement lurking just behind the friendly glimmer in his eye. Edie seemed to have noticed it too, as when they sat down she put on a very sincere looking grimace and said, "I'm sorry, Headmaster. When Sev'rus said he was goin' ter meet yeh a' Hogwarts, I begged fer him ter let us come with him." Shifting her attention to Darla, Edie helped her pick out a biscuit from the small array on Dumbledore's desk, before she told him, "I didn' go ter Hogwarts – as yeh probably know – an' I was achin' ter see it fer meself."

"That's quite alright," replied the old man. A genuine smile now on his lips, he offered, "I could call for my deputy headmistress to come and give you and little Darla a tour?"

Edie returned the grin, eyes shining. "Yes, please, Headmaster."

He and Edie then made a little more small-talk as Darla finished her biscuit and drank some tea. Once Severus stopped Darla from starting on a second biscuit ("No, Darla, you'll spoil your dinner."), Dumbledore requested one of Hogwarts's house-elves' presence and asked for them to tell Professor McGonagall to please come to his office. After a few more minutes of light chatter about mostly nothing, with the occasional question about Edie's life before being a nanny, Severus's old transfiguration professor appeared.

Severus turned his head and noticed the way her eyes widened briefly at the sight of him with Darla and Edie. Severus understood. It still was quite the shock sometimes when he realized how much a family man he looked these days. This was something he'd never predicted for his future and he doubted anyone else pictured this would be his life either.

"You called for me, Headmaster?" she said.

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, I was hoping, if you're not attending to any business at the moment, that you could give these young ladies a tour of Hogwarts. This is their first time here," he explained.

"Of course," Professor McGonagall agreed.

Edie got to her feet, as did Darla. A short introduction later, the three left, leaving Severus and Professor Dumbledore alone.

"You have a very lovely family, Mr. Snape," Dumbledore remarked. "I see why Lily believed you would want help to protect them after what you shared with her and James."

Severus averted his gaze. "When the Lord punishes someone for disloyalty, there is no guarantee he will stop with just the traitor." Severus's thoughts wandered to Zipporah Humphrey and how she attempted to defect upon finding out she was pregnant. The Dark Lord had not stopped at torturing her until she miscarried, but also killed her husband so the situation would not arise again. She'd died on a Death Eater mission about a week and a half ago; there were whispers she'd not avoided the curse hurtling at her intentionally, but no one could say for certain one way or another.

"The Potters have chosen to put their home under Fidelius Charm to protect themselves and baby Harry from Voldemort," the headmaster explained."Perhaps—"

He shook his head. "We live in a flat, one that doesn't even have its own _toilet_ , we can't put our home under the charm."

Dumbledore stroked his beard. "The Order has safe houses. We could move your family into one for the war and put up the appropriate precautions…"

His stomach began to sink and he leaned forward in anticipation. "And in exchange?" he asked. "What do I need to do to live in an Order house?"

The old man looked deeply saddened for a moment, but the sorrow disappeared as quickly as it came. "You've done more than enough, Mr. Snape. Even if you had done nothing and you and your family were simply in danger, we would help you."

Severus didn't believe him. Couldn't. The old man had never liked him; why would Severus getting himself into trouble unrelated to the Order have made Dumbledore or his group interested in helping him? It wouldn't have. Everything in Severus urged him to say this, but he choked the feeling down. Severus had to think of Darla, Edie, the _baby_. They needed protection in case it was discovered he told the Potters about the Lord's plans. Who knew what would happen if he upset the headmaster right now? Severus didn't think he'd revoke his offer, but he probably would be less inclined to help if any future issues arose, that was for certain.

Finally, after a beat of silence too long, he muttered, "Thank you."

The headmaster dipped his chin and threaded his fingers together, a look of contemplation settling on him. "I can help you keep your family safe from Voldemort during the war, but if you continue to be a part of his cause, even if your heart is not truly in it, there will be little I can do to save you after the war ends."

He knew this, understood this. Severus expected no one to save him when the Dark Lord was finally defeated. If anything, Severus fully anticipated he would have to flee the country if he could not think of a clever plan to excuse his actions in the meantime. "I know," he replied.

"However…" Dumbledore posed, "if you were to become a spy for the Order and work against Voldemort I could help you when this war ends and be your advocate."

Severus turned this information over in his head. If he was being utterly honest with himself, Severus really didn't want the Lord to be victorious any longer – especially if it meant Lily would be dead at his hands in the process – and it would be better for his sister, Edie, and his soon-to-be-child if he was recorded as a spy and member of the Order should the headmaster's resistance group win when this was all over. People would still doubt his loyalty, but at least there'd be people (like Dumbledore) on his side, arguing he was a hero and not a turncoat. Darla would still get flak, yet there'd be people on her side too helping to defend him and their family.

He put out his hand for the old man. "You have a deal."

* * *

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	11. New Home and New Developments

_Black Eyes_

* * *

With Edie back at their flat having a noonday kip, Darla took great delight in running unchecked up and down their new home's stairs. She was loud and listening to the creak of the fifth and seventh steps over and over was driving him mad, but Severus was pleased she was happy. After he finished with unpacking the kitchen boxes, Severus went out to the lounge room and waited at the base of the staircase for his little sister to come running toward him. When she was in reach, he snagged her off the stairs and lifted her to his shoulders.

With the practiced ease that came with often riding his shoulders around Knockturn Alley, Darla crossed her legs under his chin and rested her arms atop his head. Severus then walked up the stairs himself, making a point of skipping over the squeaky ones. As he did so, he asked, "Have you seen your room yet? Or have you been too busy trying to drive me barmy?"

"We have stairs, Sev!" Darla enthused, unbothered by his slightly scolding tone.

Severus hummed. "Mum and Dad's house had stairs," he remarked. He frowned a moment as a thought came to him. Darla might not recall many of the features of their parents' home. Most things had to leave quite the impression to create a memory at the age Darla had been when their mum and dad died. Which meant unless she took a tumble down the steps, the knowledge may be lost to her. Even so, he inquired, "Do you remember that? It was quite a while ago you lived there now."

His little sister uncrossed her feet and thumped them lightly against his chest. As he reached the door to what was going to be Darla's bedroom, she mumbled, "It did, didn't it?"

He wrapped a hand around her slender calf and squeezed it comfortingly. "It did."

"I'm forgettin' Mummy an' Daddy," she admitted.

Taking her off his shoulders, he knelt down and met her big, fretful gaze. Pushing a smile across his face, Severus tucked a stray strand of wispy blonde hair behind Darla's ear. "It's quite alright," he told her. He was rather glad she was. Perhaps not so much with mum, but the less she recalled about their father the better. "You're making a lot of new memories lately and new ones like to crowd out the old. If you ever have questions about Mum and Dad, I'll do my best to answer them."

His little sister nodded, relief evident on her face.

Gently, Severus turned her to face her door. "Now, would you like to do the honors of opening your bedroom door?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed. As he got to his feet, Severus watched her take the knob in her small hand and twist it open. A moment later, they were stepping into the narrow room. There was a bed in the right-hand corner of the room beneath the window already and across from it was a tall, thin, white armoire.

Turning in a circle in the center of the room, Darla said, "I like it! The walls are orange an' that's my fav'rite color." She looked at him then, batting her lashes. "Can I have a pink blanket for my bed? I like pink too."

Severus nodded. "Yes, of course. Shall we get you pink curtains as well?"

Darla began to jump with joy. "Pink with _butterflies_ on it!"

He laughed. "As you wish, sister-dear."

-o-O-o-

Being a spy really wasn't too different from being a Death Eater. He did all of the same things he did before; go on missions to raze businesses and homes to the ground, occasionally torture someone for information about something or other, brew complex and obscure potions at the Lord's request. All that had changed was after each mission, each meeting, and every potion Severus went to Professor Dumbledore and reported on his activities and the happenings in the Lord's circle.

Even so, he'd never been more terrified. What would happen should he be found out? Would the Death Eaters go looking for Edie and Darla? Would Dumbledore and his Order truly do everything in their power to help the two escape the Lord's wrath? They were his family and Severus had a lot more enemies in the Order than he had allies. Sometimes, he feared so much for his family's future, that his hands would begin to shake and nothing he did would stop it.

After yet another meeting of Death Eaters in preparation for a raid of an Order-Sympathizer's home, Severus was blocked by a fellow wizard on his way to his disapparation point. Severus wasn't sure who they were at first and his heart began to race; he was worried they knew what he was. Would they take him to the Lord so they could earn laudation and prestige for finding a rat among their ranks or were they going to attempt to extort what little he had out of him in return for their silence?

The wizard pulled out their wand – it was about nine or ten inches and made of Alder wood – and said, "Put out your hands."

At the soft quality of the other wizard's voice and the additional identifying information given to Severus in the form of his wand, he instantly knew who he was dealing with. He relaxed some; this was Quirinus Quirrell. Severus had recruited the younger man shortly before the whole Prophecy debacle. It was not the other's ruthlessness or hard heart that had lead to his recruitment, but his keen (and intuitive) knowledge of curses and how to break them.

Severus put out his hands.

Quirrell waved his wand over them, chanting a spell just loud enough for Severus to hear and tuck away for later use. When he was done, Severus turned his hands over in wonder. They looked as steady and still as a corpse's, but he could still feel them shaking.

"It's a concealment charm," the younger wizard explained. "I use it quite a bit myself. The Lord… The Lord does not like to see weakness in his followers. You ought to be more careful."

For a moment, Severus considered apologizing for bringing the other into this world, but thought better of it in the end. There was always the possibility of being overheard and Severus was not going to risk sounding traitorous so near to the Lord. And it was always Quirrell's choice anyway. Severus had made that clear from the start. "Thank you," he replied.

The other wizard stepped out of Severus's way. "Farewell."

"Goodbye," Severus echoed as he continued on to his disapparation point— He watched all the while from the corner of his eye to make sure Quirrell was doing the same. The last thing he needed was for the other man to grab onto Severus and follow him. He would find out that Severus was no longer apparating to the front of his flat, but to a floo network on the edge of Diagon Alley instead.

Severus had been obvious enough already and he needed to get a better handle on himself. There was no guarantee the next time his fears got the better of him a more sympathetic Death Eater would be there to help him. As the now familiar tug began at his navel, he thought, 'Perhaps it is time to begin practicing Occlumency in earnest…'

-o-O-o-

Hours later, Severus finally passed the threshold of his home. He smiled when he saw Edie sleeping on the lounge room's sofa. She had a half-drunken cup of tea sitting on the coffee table in front of her and an old textbook of his lay upside down on the rug next to the arm she had dangling off the sofa. It was always endearing to come home and find Edie had been waiting for his return. These days, she usually was asleep when he finally returned; pregnancy, on top of her usual day-to-day activities, appeared to exhaust her.

Severus put a hand on her shoulder and shook her lightly. "Wake up, you should be sleeping in bed, not on the sofa."

Muzzily, she mumbled, "Sev?" And began to rub her eyes.

"Yes," he answered, guiding her into a sitting position.

Looking a little more awake, Edie told him, "I wen' ter see me midwife terday."

"Oh?" he said while helping her to her feet

She nodded, then smiled at him. "Yeah. An' guess wha'?"

"She said the baby's doing well?" Severus suggested as they linked arms and began to amble toward the staircase, leaning on one another equally in their states of fatigue.

Edie laughed. "Yeah, she said they're _both_ doin' well!"

Severus stopped. Turning to face the witch fully, he sputtered, "B-Both?"

She grinned nervously, one of her hands covertly coming to rest over her middle. "Tha's okay, isn't it?"

Shock ebbing and a feeling of joy and love overcoming him, Severus leaned in a pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Yes, of course, it is," he murmured. When he pulled back, he shook his head. "Two!" he exclaimed. "Darla will be beside herself when she finds out she's getting two babies instead of one."

Edie agreed with a soft hum and rested her head on his upper-arm. "Let's wait a li'l more before we tell her. I'd hate fer somethin' ter happen an' then we have ter tell her there's only goin' ter be one baby instead."

"She will be happy," Severus assured Edie. "But if you want to wait a bit more, I don't mind."

The witch sighed deeply. "Thank yeh, Sev'rus."

* * *

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	12. Christmas Glee

_Black Eyes_

* * *

Severus was surprised when Professor Dumbledore handed him an envelope after one of their meetings. He furrowed his brows and looked at it and then at the old man. His blue eyes shined with something close to mirth.

"Sir?" Severus said in an attempt to prompt an explanation from the old man.

He only pressed the letter closer to Severus and told him, "I think you'd prefer to open this in private."

Severus was baffled further and almost started to ask him why, but stopped short before the question could leave his pursed lips. He was fighting a hard-taught instinct to let it go, but thought this once he could trust Dumbledore. It had to just be a letter, right? The old man would have checked it for hexes or curses and surely he wouldn't have handed it to him if there was anything malicious written inside?

He was also so very tired and wanted nothing more than to go home. Severus doubted even if he started hollering and threatening to throw the letter into the fire of the nearby hearth Dumbledore would give him a straight answer about what the letter contained. Attempting such a course of action would only serve to keep him from Edie and his bed for longer than he cared for. So, with a small defeated sigh, he dipped his chin and started toward the man's floo. "Thank you, Headmaster." As he grabbed a fistful of powder to throw, he called, "Good evening, sir."

"Goodbye, Severus," he returned, eyes still bright. "And Merry Christmas," he added in the split second before Severus was taken away by the network.

-O-

When Severus arrived home, he did not immediately go inside to Edie and Darla. Instead, he lingered outside of the verdant front door and contemplated what could be inside the envelope. It was thin, but there was a bit of a weight to it as well. Like there was something inside it besides just a letter. Pacing the walk a few times, Severus finally settled with his back to the front door and opened the envelope. It was the only way to find out what was inside, after all.

What he first pulled out was an ornament. Severus lifted it curiously into the air for inspection. It appeared to be a simplistic, smiling angel with wings made of tiny, gold-painted paper handprints. For a moment, he was baffled, and then, with dawning realization, Severus slipped the angel's string over a couple of his fingers so he did not drop it and pulled out from the envelope a Christmas card. The front was a photo of Lily, Potter, and their baby all wearing matching Gryffindor scarves in front of a Christmas tree. For a moment, all he did was stare at their smiling faces and watch as Lily lifted her son's hand to wave at the camera. Then Severus opened the card. It read:

 _Merry Christmas, Severus._

 _Thank you for the life-saving gift you gave my family this year. I hope you and your family have a lovely Christmas and happy New Year._

 _With love,_

 _Lily, Harry, and James._

He drank in the sight of Lily's handwriting and the warmth of her words. After taking a moment to blink back the wetness in his eyes, he tucked the empty envelope into his pocket and carried the treasures into his home to share with Edie and Darla. There was no doubt in Severus's mind he'd be returning her kindness. He was certain his girls would delight in taking a special photo just for Christmas and creating a trinket to send the Potter's in return. All Severus hoped was that this would be the first in many years of exchanges.

-o-O-o-

The hearth was glowing orange from the embers of the evening's fire and the charmed candles of the Christmas tree danced among the branches while Darla, curled into a tiny ball, slumbered by his and Edie's feet on the lounge room's rug. As Severus held hands with Edie, they soaked in the rare peaceful night and enjoyed each other's company.

Abruptly, the quiet was broken when Edie looked down at her stomach and brought her free hand to rest on it. "One o' the babies is kickin'," she told him with soft joy.

Severus brought his unoccupied hand over to lay next to Edie's. A moment later, he felt a kick as well. He met the witch's gaze. "They're strong," he said, remembering how he once said the same to his mother about Darla as he did so. Severus hoped his mother was happy wherever she was; wished with all of him that she knew he and Darla were doing better than alright, but _good_. Life for Darla was full of much more happiness than it was hurt and it would continue to be for a long time if Severus had any say.

She grinned back, pleased. "I'd say," she returned. "They've woken me up, doin' tha'."

He chuckled. Then, Severus looked back at their hands. He started to trace Edie's fingers with his pointer, a thoughtful wrinkle coming to his forehead. What color ring would be best for Edie's complexion? Gold? Silver? What would Edie like? He'd never bought her jewelry before and she had never purchased any for herself as far as he was aware. Perhaps she would like something else altogether? He had heard that Lex Fawcett had proposed to his wife with a puppy.

Severus looked up when Edie untangled her hand from his only to bring her hand to cup the side of his face. Face a gentle yellow in the fire-light and her hazel eyes more golden than ever before, Edie asked, "Wha's with the worry-lines, Sev'rus? It's Christmas."

He decided now was the time to ask. Pulling her hand away from his cheek, he held it in both of his and met the witch's curious, concerned gaze. "Edie, will you marry me?" he asked.

Her eyes fluttered wide. "Wha'?"

"Darla loves you, you might very well be having my children, and I," he lowered his voice to hardly more than a murmur, "I want you to stay with me. Forever."

Eyes liquid gold, Edie whispered, "Sev'rus." Before leaning in and capturing his lips in a gentle kiss. When she pulled back a few lingering seconds later, Edie was smiling. "Yes," she said. "I want ter marry yeh too." Her free hand rubbing her middle, she looked over at Severus's little sister and remarked, tone light and cheeky, "I suppose we'll have a few surprises fer Darla termorrow mornin'."

He grinned himself. "She's going to be fit to burst when she hears."

-o-O-o-

Darla had her new puzzle half done beside her, a Christmas bow from one of her gifts in her hair, and was in the midst of feeding the baby doll she just pulled from its box when Severus cleared his throat. The little girl looked up, black eyes overjoyed. "Can San'a bring Bessie a pram next year?" she asked.

Severus laughed. "Perhaps. Or we could get you one for your birthday. That's quite a bit sooner than next Christmas."

His little sister beamed. "Okay!"

"Darla," Edie said, "We've got a couple o' more presents fer yeh yet."

Still clutching her baby doll to her, the little girl got to her feet and walked over to them. "Where are they?" she asked. Her gaze darted around the room in search of more brightly wrapped gifts. Her lip puckered in thought when she found none. "Do I have to go lookin' for 'em?"

"No, no," Severus assured, chortling. "You only hunt for Easter eggs."

Edie started to laugh herself. "Perfect timin'!" she exclaimed. "C'mere Darla, give me yer hand. Quick, now!"

Severus's sister lent Edie her hand, who then promptly placed it on her middle. Severus couldn't hide his grin when his little sister's mouth dropped open in surprise. Looking between the two of them, she asked, "What was that?"

"Edie's going to have two babies," Severus explained.

Darla's eyes grew to twice their usual size. She looked at her new doll and then back at them. "Real babies?"

"Yes," Edie answered. "An' tha's not all!" Smiling at Severus, she linked their hands together and told his little sister, "Yeh're brother an' me are goin' ter marry."

She fell quiet, little lip protruding once more. Finally, she questioned, "Does that mean you're gonna be my sister, Edie?"

"I will be, yes."

His little sister grinned before scrambling up into the space between their legs. Bending over Edie's lap, she put her hand on the witch's middle and said, "I wanna name one!"

Severus snorted at her audacity and pulled his sister over onto his lap. Tickling Darla under her chin to make her squirm, he said, "You do, do you? What would you name it, hm?"

Giggling and squirming away from him, she said, "Min'ra! Like that nice prof'sor at Hogwarts!"

Edie began to giggle along with Darla, evidently tickled by their sister's suggestion. "Minvera? Why, we'll just end up callin' her Minnie!"

"Awww, please?"

Severus put a hand on the girl's head and ruffled her hair. "We'll see, sister-dear."

* * *

 **Did you guys like Christmas?**

 **Thanks so much for reading!**


	13. The Wedding

_Black Eyes_

* * *

They married the day after New Year. It was a practical affair, but no less lovely. Edie put on her nice satin gray robe and did her hair up in a twisted bun while Severus dressed in his black robe with the green threading and silver buttons and then coaxed Darla into her new light blue robe with its frilly white trim and braided her hair into a neat plait running down her back. When done, the three headed for the Ministry. Outside, they met Mr. Mulpepper, who agreed to be one of their witnesses for their wedding.

The old man smiled at them all; he shook hands with Severus and gave him a card. Mr. Mulpepper winked and said it'd probably be best he wait until he was home to open it. Severus nodded, though, he didn't quite understand why he should wait when he had a fair idea of what was inside (money) and thanked his boss. The old man then turned his attention to Severus's sister and soon-to-be-wife. He told Edie and Darla they looked beautiful, before gifting Edie a bouquet of peonies and hyacinths and his little sister a silken blue hair ribbon. While Edie gushed over her flowers, Darla demanded the ribbon be tied around her plait right now and insisted Mr. Mulpepper be the one to do it.

Severus immediately tried to persuade his sister into letting him tie the ribbon as the last thing he wanted to do was make his elderly boss kneel on the cold street, but Mr. Mulpepper waved him off and got down to do it just as Darla wished. Briefly, Severus wondered why it was the old man and his wife never had children. Mr. Mulpepper was rather good with his little sister and seemed to enjoy interacting with her quite a bit. Perhaps they'd been unable? If so, they had all his condolences. It must have been painful for them when they were young. Soon, Severus turned his attention away from his boss and Darla and cast his gaze out over the stream of people coming and leaving the Ministry. Squinting his eyes with consideration, he searched for a slightly familiar or benevolent face he could call out to ask to be his and Edie's other witness.

He did a double-take when he spied McGonagall striding toward the Ministry's doors. What business could she have here today of all days? His old professor slowed when she spied him and his still wedding party among the motion of the moving throngs. Severus knew McGonagall had never been very fond of him as a student, but she seemed to have left his little sister with a very positive impression in the little time he had with her all of those months ago. He gave her a halting wave.

McGonagall continued on a few more steps before she faltered and appeared to come to the decision to approach and exchange niceties with Severus, his family, and Mr. Mulpepper. Marching over, she greeted, "How do you do, Mr. Snape?"

"Very well, Professor," he answered, settling a hand on the small of Edie's back to bring her closer. "Edie and I are to marry today."

In spite of what Severus knew must be magnificent control of her features hard-won from dealing with the capers of magical adolescents daily, the woman couldn't entirely hide her surprise. Severus tried to not feel offended. It wasn't as if he ever expected to marry, especially not so young. He knew very few witches his age were interested in being with a man who had a small child under his care. They were looking to make families, not join one. Edie had been a true find and Severus would be forever happy he took a chance on her.

McGonagall smiled. "Congratulations, you two."

Edie, proving once more how adept she was at reading situations, said, "We need 'nother witness, perhaps yeh would like teh do the honors?"

The woman, once again, couldn't hide her shock. But Severus didn't mind so much this time, as her eyes took on a soft light. "I'm touched by your request, but I have a disciplinary hearing to attend for an underage student who thought it was a brilliant idea to try and disapparate from their home in the middle of the night to meet with their girlfriend."

"When's it scheduled? We don' mind waitin' if it's only a bit," replied Edie.

Severus's old professor pulls out a pocket watch and checks the time. "It's at a quarter to noon."

"We have plenty o' time before then," proclaimed Edie, smiling widely. "So, Professor McGonagall, will yeh be our second witness?"

For a moment, she looked uncertain. Then, she sighed and nodded. "It won't take too long, I reckon, will it?"

"Not at all," Severus assured. "Mr. Mulpepper needs to return to his Apothecary before half-past noon to relieve Clyde Urquhart."

-O-

After they said their "I do"s, Mr. Mulpepper pulled out a camera and insisted on a few pictures. "You'll want them," he told Severus and Edie when they began to insist it wasn't necessary. "It'll be nice to look at when you're old like me to help you remember how happy you were today." He then tipped his head at Edie's stomach. "And a nice bit of history for the wee ones to have when they get old enough to be curious about their old mum and dad."

Severus glanced at McGonagall. She seemed resigned by the revelation, rather than flabbergasted. He supposed she was learning to expect anything from him now. Severus had stopped meeting others (and his own) expectations about the same time Darla came into his guardianship. He was surprisingly all right with it too. It was nerve-wracking and frustrating sometimes to have nothing go as he expected it would, but he was learning to enjoy this new path he had found himself on after taking in Darla.

Relenting to his boss's logic, they allowed him to take a picture of him and Edie smiling and presenting their wedding bands for all to see, and then one of him, Edie, and Darla. For it, Darla sat on his arm and Edie pressed a kiss to his sister's flushed cheek, showing she was committing herself to Darla as much as she was Severus. In the final photo, they roped one of the judge's assistants into taking a picture of the five of them.

It was after that one Professor McGonagall asked if she might have a copy. A little smirk on her lips, she remarked, "It's not every day I see a former student married."

Severus agreed. It was a small way to pay her back for the kindness she did him of being a witness and it really wasn't that bad of a photo. He looked… acceptable, Darla appeared almost cherubic, and Edie had managed to pose in a way that meant only the unmarred side of her face was caught by the camera's flash. Severus loved all of her, even the burn scar, but he knew it made Edie feel insecure and she preferred to hide it when possible. He had a feeling this was the one she'd want to be hung over the mantle too.

Severus duplicated the picture for her, and then for Mr. Mulpepper too. "You deserve a photo too," he told his boss. "It's the least I can give you after you took the time to be here."

"Why, thank you, lad," he said, taking the picture with a smile. He carefully shrank it down to card-sized and stuck it in his pocket as Professor McGonagall did the same.

"It has been lovely, but I must be going," the woman said, leaning in to shake his hand, then Edie's. She tried to do the same with Darla, but his little sister demanded she have a hug instead. McGonagall appeared a little bemused by the request, but embraced his sister all the same, smiling as she separated from her.

"Bye, Prof'sor Min'ra!" she called after the woman's retreating back.

Her shoulders began to shake.

Severus covered his face with his hands and hoped he didn't run into his old teacher for a long time after this. The butchering of her name and title… He was sure she would have something to say about that the next time he saw her.

Mr. Mulpepper chuckled before he turned to them with a grin. "I think we have just enough time to stop at Sugarplum's for some celebratory cake before I have to head on to the apothecary. What do you say?"

-o-O-o-

A week later, after yet another conference with Dumbledore about the Death Eater's latest plot (they were preparing to burn down a pub belonging to a wizard who refused to support the Dark Lord), he reached into one of the drawers of his desk and pulled out an envelope. Blue eyes dancing with delight, he said, "Before I forget, this is for you, Severus."

He turned it over in his hands. On the front of the envelope, his name was written in a familiar script. 'Lily…' he thought before tearing into it. He pulled out a card. It was white with the word 'congratulations' printed in bold, black font in the middle of it. The words were surrounded by a laurel of gold. He opened it and read:

 _To my friend Severus,_

 _I hear you've gotten married. I'm told it was a sweet affair and your bride was beautiful. But that's not all, is it?_

 _I've also been informed you're to have not one baby, but two! That's so exciting! I'm sure you already know a bit about babies thanks to Darla, but I feel like I should offer a little parenting advice still. When they're waking you up at all hours of the night, do not roll over and pretend to be asleep. Get up just as much, if not more, than Edie. She's probably going to be doing a lot more with them during the day than you will._

 _I'm not entirely sure when Albus will find time to pass this along, but happy (early/belated) Birthday too._

 _With love,_

 _Lily_

Severus snorted as he closed the card. He knew exactly where that advice had come from. Evidentally, Potter hadn't been willing to give up his beauty sleep for his spawn as much as Lily thought he should. Severus would not be doing the same to Edie. Putting the card away in one of his robe's pockets, Severus said to the old man, "Thank you, sir, for passing this along."

"It's no trouble, my boy."

As he got to his feet to leave, he paused. Severus should probably send Lily a card in return for her birthday later and to thank her for the one she sent him too. "Do you think you'd be able to pass along a card to Lily for me, Headmaster?"

The old man smiled. "Yes, of course."

"Thank you."

* * *

 **How did you all enjoy the wedding? The scene with Lily's letter?**

 **Thank you a million for reading!**


	14. Trials of the Enlightened

_Black Eyes_

* * *

After his shift at Mr. Mulpepper's, Severus went to Scrivenshaft's Quill to purchase a card for Lily. Browsing their selection, he settled on a scallop-trimmed lavender card with the words "Happy Birthday" printed on the front in flowing silver cursive. Lily had always liked purple and he liked things that were on the minimalist side. Going up to the register, he recognized the slightly bored woman standing behind the counter. It was Allison Macnair, Walden Macnair's cousin. He hadn't known she worked here. Uneasily he looked at the birthday card. Surely something so innocuous…?

Severus put on a neutral expression and continued forward. Setting the card on the counter, he said, "How do you do, Macnair?"

The younger woman smiled as her green eyes flashed with recollection. "Fine. And you, Snape?" She looked down at his purchase. "Who're you buying a birthday card for?"

Calmy taking the card from her once it'd been put through in her shopkeeper's system, he lied, "My wife." And lifted his left hand for her to see his wedding band.

She gaped briefly. "You married? When?"

"A few days ago," he answered, just barely keeping his irritation in check.

Leaning forward on her elbows, she asked, "Who is this special lady?"

"Her name is Edie. She was homeschooled," he explained.

Standing back up, Macnair snorted. "That makes sense. I knew it couldn't be anyone we went to Hogwarts with."

"Indeed," he replied in a clipped tone as he put down his payment. "I found Hogwarts's witches to be… _lacking_." Dipping his head, he said, "Now, if you'll excuse me."

-O-

When Severus stepped into his home, he went straight to where Edie was reading to Darla on the sofa and took her by the arm. Pulling her up and into the kitchen, he glanced over his shoulder to see his little sister's curious eyes on them. Not wanting to draw even more attention than he must, he forwent a privacy spell and leaned in to ask, "When is your birthday?"

Baffled, Edie blinked at him. "I don' know. I never celebrated it."

"It's today," he hissed. "Today is your birthday and that is what you tell anyone who asks, do you understand?"

Noddingly rapidly, she stepped back and Severus let her go. Still a little wide-eyed, Edie leaned against the counter that was now behind her. After a moment of quiet, she said, "If terday is me birthday, I think yeh ough' o' be the one ter make dinner ternight." Now smiling, she pushed away from the counter and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Tha'd be a lovely gif', me love."

Tension flooding out of him in waves, Severus grinned down at Edie and cupped her cheek for a moment. "Of course." Then, turning his attention to his little sister, he called, "Darla, come here! I need your help to make Edie's birthday dinner."

The slightly worried furrow to his sister's brow smoothed instantly and she catapulted herself over the back of the sofa. "I wanna read the directions!" she cried.

Severus laughed as he swung her up to sit on the counter beside the stove. "Of course," he answered. "But only if I get to be in charge of the stove and oven."

Darla put out her small hand. "Deal!" she said, smiling toothily at him.

He took her hand and shook it with exaggerated seriousness. "Excellent."

As the two of them got to work putting together a dinner Edie was sure to enjoy, the witch sat down at the kitchen's table and watched on with a lightness to her eyes as her family cooked for her.

-o-O-o-

As he checked the rest of the house's rooms for its final occupants, Severus did his best to ignore the strangled shrieks that occasionally echoed down the narrow hallway. Usually, victims were hoarse from screaming at this point. Thalia Bones evidently was much more determined to make her suffering known than most. Abruptly, he was stopped in his search when Mulciber appeared at the mouth of the hallway and demanded, "Have you found their brats yet?"

"Not yet!" he shouted back.

The Death Eater sighed. "Hurry up, would you? Pyrites says she's becoming boring."

Severus nodded and was thankful once more that Death Eaters wore masks. Otherwise, the other would see his disgust and know Severus was not as committed to their mission as he, which would be disastrous for not only him, but the Order, and his family as well. Opening the last door on the left. Severus roughly began to upturn the room's content. He started with the bed, then the chair sat in the right corner of the room, he moved onto the dresser. After he turned it upside down, he froze. Laid out on the floor was a frightened boy about Darla's age with an infant who couldn't be much older than Lily's son pressed into his chest.

There was no way in _Hell_ he was dragging these two infants out to be tortured and killed. If Severus did, he knew he'd never be able to look his little sister in the eye again. Very slowly, Severus brought his free hand to his mouth and gestured for the boy to stay silent. He lowered the dresser back down and walked out of the room. "They aren't here!" he yelled to Mulciber. "One of them must have sent the buggers away!"

Mulciber swore as Pyrites sent a killing curse at Thalia Bone's convulsing body. "Bloody cunt," the man spat. "Ruining our fun."

"Let's go," Severus said. "There's nothing left to do."

Pyrites stomped on Edgar Bone's head. "Fucking bastard," he snarled down at the corpse. "Probably thinks he won! But we'll find your damn brats soon enough!"

Severus wanted to insist they go again, but was afraid if he did he might raise the suspicions of the other two. Thankfully, Mulciber did it for him. Swinging an arm around Pyrites's shoulder, he dragged him away from Edward Bone's bloody body. "C'mon mate," he said. "The faster we report to the Lord, the faster we can go out and do some Muggle-Baiting."

"Yes, okay," agreed the other, letting himself be led out of the Bones' home, Severus trailing after them.

-o-O-o-

A couple of hours later, Severus sat on the sofa in his home and stared at his shaking hands. Every now and then he would glance at his hearth, hoping beyond reason that it would light up with a floo call with news about the Bones children. Edie, who sat beside him, took his hands in her own and kissed them. Eyes sad, she whispered, "Yeh need ter res', Sev. Even if it's only for a mo'."

"I – I can't…" he croaked back, mind's eyes flashing with the image of the Bones's son's teary, fear-blown eyes.

His wife crawled into his lap and brought his face close to her chest to cradle. As she brushed her hand through his hair, she began to hum a lullaby. Severus focused on Edie's voice and slowly, his hands stopped shaking. Then his eyes began to drift closed and soon, all there was was darkness.

-O-

An unidentifiable amount of time later, Severus stirred when he heard voices. Groggily, he tried to figure out where he was exactly. It only took turning his head and feeling the itch of the blue polyester knit of his drawing's sofa to remind him he was in his home. Then, it all came back to him. Sitting upright, he looked around frantically only to see his wife and Dumbledore sharing tea in the kitchen.

Staggering to his feet, he hurried over and asked, breathless, "Are they…?"

The Headmaster's unusually dull eyes flashed for a moment with victory. " Stephen and George Bones are alive and safe with their aunt and uncle."

Severus's knees threatened to go out from beneath him. Noticing this, Edie summoned one of the kitchen chairs over to him at haste and he was able to collapse into it without incident. Running a shaking hand through his hair, he breathed, "Thank Merlin."

"You did an extraordinary thing tonight, Severus," Dumbledore said. "The Bones family expressed their thankfulness many times for what you did."

He shook his head. "I didn't do anything special. It was entirely selfish. If I let them die I knew I could never meet Darla's gaze again. The boy, he's old enough to be her contemporary. I couldn't let a child she will go to Hogwarts with die."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dumbledore rise to his feet. The old man rested a hand on Severus's shoulder. "It is easy to think little of our actions, but, often, their value is best weighed in the eyes of those they affect." Slowly, Severus lifted his gaze to meet the headmaster's. "Severus, you are a hero to those boys and their family. Do you understand?" the old man asked in a gentle tone.

Unable to speak around the boulder of emotions in his throat, Severus nodded.

* * *

 **What do you think? Did you like Severus's heroic act?**

 **Thank you for reading :)**


	15. The Bumpy Arrival of Eileen and Lottie

_Black Eyes_

* * *

Severus was shaken awake on an early May morning by his crying little sister. Immediately alert at the sound of her sobs, he sat up and grabbed her. Severus pulled her close for inspection, only to find there was nothing visibly wrong with Darla. "What is it? What's wrong?" he demanded.

"Edie f-fell an' won't get up!" she wailed.

Heart plummeting as panic quickened his breath, Severus tightened his grip on his sister and ordered, "Stay here!" before he untangled himself from his bed sheets and ran from the room to find Edie. It didn't take him long at all, upon reaching the landing, he found his wife in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the stairs. "Edie!" he yelled before taking the steps two at a time to reach her. Once at her side, he stopped, hands hovering above her prone form. He was afraid if he touched her he might hurt her or the babies more than they potentially were. In the end, Severus settled for placing a hand on one of her cheeks and positioning his thumb to rest just in front of her slightly parted lips. He nearly began to sob himself when he felt her warm breath fan over his thumb.

Some of his terror subsiding at the knowledge she was still breathing, Severus got up and started for the hearth. As he began to throw a fistful of powder into the fire to call St. Mungo's, Severus realized he couldn't if he wanted this house to remain safe and secret. Torn over what to do next, his hands began to shake and floo powder started to coat the floor. Finally, he concluded his only option was to call Professor Dumbledore. The man had insisted Severus trust him and now seemed the perfect time to see if he really was worth the faith Severus had been putting in him and whoever he might be able to bring to help Edie and the twins.

Making the call, he choked, "It's Edie. She fell and won't wake up. Please… Please help."

-o-O-o-

Several hours later Severus paced the length of Hogwarts's infirmary while his sister slept fitfully in a bed beside the one where Edie lay unconscious. At the end of his wife's bed was a bassinet holding two tiny, bald baby girls. As he started on his eighteenth lap of the hall, Madam Pomfrey appeared with a tray of sandwiches and a pot of tea. He watched the nurse as she set the tray up at the end of his sister's bed.

As she poured three cups of tea, she said to him, "Come sit down and have a cuppa, Severus."

He didn't want to, but lessons learned in boyhood that taught him not to cross the no-nonsense nurse kicked in and he did just as she requested. Sitting down, he accepted the tea from her hands as she passed it to him and just held it. In its own small way, the tea's warmth and pleasant floral scent settled him. Eyes drifting between his wife and his two small daughters, he watched just long enough to ensure their chests were falling and rising with life before moving onto the next.

"You did well, Severus," Madam Pomfrey told him.

He looked up at the wizened witch and scoffed. "I did nothing."

Her blue-gray eyes turned soft. "You made the firecall that saved her and your daughters."

His gaze returned to the infants. They were by far the smallest babies he had ever seen and feared for what that meant. "I've never seen a baby smaller than a doll before," he remarked to her.

"I've only ever seen a few myself," the nurse admitted. "But they'll grow and before you know it, you'll forget they were ever so little."

He shook his head. "I don't think I ever shall," he whispered.

Madam Pomfrey briefly patted his knee. "I promise you, Severus, your girls and wife will be just fine."

Severus told himself to believe the nurse and, mostly, he did. Even so, a sliver of him still feared Edie and the babies would not be okay and he could not shake it. Perhaps when Edie woke he would be able to overcome his trepidation and feel the same certainty Madam Pomfrey felt now about his wife and daughters' fates.

-O-

Shortly after nightfall, Edie stirred. Putting down the medical tools she'd been playing with, Darla grabbed her brother's hand. "Sev!" she cried. "Look, Sev!"

Severus raised his gaze from the book he'd been staring blankly at for the past hour and a half and to where Darla had pointed her small hand. When they saw Edie's head turn, Severus let the book fall from his knees as he went to her side and took her sister's hand in his own. "Edie?" he whispered.

Slowly, the witch's eyes opened. Staring at Darla's brother muzzily a moment, she mumbled, "Sev'rus…?"

"Yes," Severus said, sinking to his knees. "Yes."

Edie's hand went to her stomach. "The… babies…?"

Her brother turned to her. Eyes half-wild, he told her, "Darla, come here, sit beside Edie for me."

She scrambled off her bed and over to Edie's. Hopping up beside her sister's face, she accepted Edie's hand when Severus pressed it into her own. Darla clung to Edie as she watched Severus walk to the end of the bed and pick up her two new nieces. He brought them back to Edie and her side. Smiling a little too widely at her, Severus ordered, "I need you to put your arms out how I showed you earlier."

Darla did as she was told and for it, she was rewarded with the soft, warm body of the larger of the twins. Making sure her hold was strong and safe, she carefully scooted a little closer to her sister and positioned her niece so Edie could see her face easily. Severus did the same with the other baby.

As Edie stared at them with groggy eyes and wonder-parted lips, she whispered, "Are they…?"

"These our are girls," Severus told her. "They look a bit like house-elves right now, but I'm sure given some time they will become as beautiful as you."

Her sister smiled and reached out to stroke each baby's small nose. "Got yer nose already," she teased. Or Darla believed she was, anyhow. The babies' noses didn't look anything like the hawkish beak of her brother; instead, they were small, squished things. If she squinted, however, Darla thought perhaps the smaller had a more piggy-like nose. Sort of like Edie's own short, snubbish nostrils.

Severus chuckled, but it sounded off and when Darla glanced at him, she saw that there were tears in her brother's eyes. She wanted very much to hug him, but knew he would be cross if she tried to while holding her niece. He had told her she would need to treat them even more carefully than she would a kitten or puppy because they were so little. In spite of this, she still tried to make Severus's tears disappear by asking the one question that had been bothering her all day. "What're their names?"

Edie looked at the two babies a moment and then pointed with a trembling hand at the baby in Severus's hands. "Tha' one's Charlotte Amata—"

"No, I changed my mind," her brother broke in. "I want our Charlotte's middle name to be Minerva," he told Edie as he stared right at her with shining eyes. In response, Darla nearly squealed before recalling the sleeping baby in her arms. So, instead, she settled for beaming. Severus picked _her_ suggestion! He returned her smile and reached over to pat her head.

Her sister looked between them a moment before she nodded. "Alright then. She's Charlotte _Minerva_ , but I think I'll call her Lottie…" Then, her sister reached over and stroked the still unnamed baby's cheek and whispered, "An' this lass is Eileen Elizabeth."

"Like Mummy?" Darla whispered, awed that they would name a little pink thing like the baby after her and Severus's mother.

Severus nodded. "Yes, just like Mum."

Darla wished she was as big as her brother so she could hold both her nieces for a moment, but, because she wasn't, she settled for holding her baby – Eileen – even closer and brushed her lips over the top of her head. "Hi, Eileen," she whispered. "I'm gonna be the best aunt ever for you an' Lottie. 'Cept you'll just call me Darla like Sev 'cause I'm four an' it'd be odd if you called me Auntie Darla."

Her brother and sister laughed, and while she didn't know why they were, Darla joined them. It was the happiest sound she'd heard all day and she wanted to be a part of it.

* * *

 **Thoughts? Like it? How do you like their names?**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	16. An Irrefutable Offer

_Black Eyes_

* * *

Lottie and Eileen were each in their own Moses basket, sleeping, and ready for transportation. Darla waited with them, peeking into the baskets every now and then to marvel at their tiny pink faces. On the bed to the right of the girls, Edie sat. She was listening intently as Madam Pomfrey went over the instructions for her own recovery care and for concerning signs to look for in the twins that would warrant a firecall straight to the nurse's hearth.

Severus listened with half an ear and kept an eye on the girls while he attempted to turn down a far too generous gift from Professor Dumbledore. Pushing the basket of infant paraphernalia back at the man, he said, "I can't accept this, sir. It's far too much."

The old man nudged it right back. "Nonsense. All of the professors were happy to contribute their own small part and I would hate to undo all of Pomona's hard work of putting this lovely presentation together just to give their presents back to them."

He felt unfairly guilted at the thought. But troubled as well. Why was it now they all wanted to support him and wished him well? Severus was beginning to wonder if in his teenage angst he'd judged his professors wrong or if they all truly loved babies this much. He suspected it was the latter, though, he couldn't see why they did. Severus had been a father for all of a week and he was very certain he'd be a much happier man when his daughters weren't insistent on keeping him awake all night with feedings, changings, and rocking. Fiddling with the fairy-green bow wrapped around the handle of the gift basket, he said, "Do give them all my thanks. I know I wasn't anyone's favorite student in my school days…"

Dumbledore waved off the self-deprecating comment. "They are all very pleased with the man you have become, Severus."

He didn't know how to respond to the almost flippant praise. Instead, he ducked his head and waved his wand over the gift, shrinking it down to the size of an apple before putting it in his pocket. "Thank you again, Headmaster," he concluded. However, before Severus could join his wife in listening to Madam Pomfrey's lecture, Dumbledore laid a hand on his arm and said, "Would you mind greatly stepping into the corridor with me for just a moment?"

Severus was perplexed as to why the headmaster wanted him to step out, but he agreed nonetheless. It would hopefully be just a moment as he said and Darla was doing a brilliant job of being mindful to not jostle the twins' baskets too much while looking in them. He was sure that wouldn't change in the short amount of time he wasn't there to supervise her.

Following Professor Dumbledore out, he asked, "What is it, sir?"

"I'd like for us to be able to work more closely together without drawing suspicion," he started. "Death Eater activity only appears to be increasing and I believe it's imperative to our cause that I am able to confer with you on Order strategies more simply than we are now. While contemplating how to do so, it has occurred to me perhaps the best way to be able to receive your thoughts more easily would be if you were a resident of Hogwarts." He paused, his gaze taking on an assessing squint before he added, "As a professor, perhaps."

His heart leaped into his throat. "I… would be… honored, Headmaster. Mr. Mulpepper will be disappointed I cannot accept the promotion he planned to give me at the start of the summer, but… Well, I'm sure he'll be pleased by the news. What subject…?"

"Potions," the old man answered, much to Severus's disappointment (he had been hoping he would say defense against the dark arts). "Horace has expressed an interest in retiring and seeing as the war does not appear to have an end in sight, the longer I can have you near the better for us all."

He nodded. "Yes, of course," Severus concurred. Perhaps when the war was done he would be given the chance to teach defense. The very thought buoyed his emotions and he was even able to smile a moment. "Thank you, sir. You have been extremely generous to me and my family. I don't think I can ever properly repay you."

Dumbledore placed a hand on Severus's shoulder, gaze serious, but warm. "I should be the one thanking you, I would say. All you are doing for the Order and the wizarding world is incomparable and I feel I am always playing catch-up in this cycle of recompense we have started."

"Sev?" his little sister's voice called.

The two men turned to see Darla peering out at them from behind the cracked infirmary door. "Madam Pomfrey wants to talk to you about Edie an' the babies."

Severus sighed. He supposed he should have expected that. "If you'll excuse me, Headmaster?" Severus said.

Eyes shining, he replied, "Yes, of course, Severus. And please, do call me Albus, we are to be colleagues after all."

"Yes, si— Albus," agreed Severus, dipping his chin as he took his leave.

-o-O-o-

 _To my dear friend Severus,_

 _Congratulations! Eileen and Lottie (you must explain her middle name to me when you have the time; I sense a story there!) are just precious in the picture you sent me. And Darla, my, she looks like quite the proud little aunt sitting between them, doesn't she? I take it she's very pleased with the new additions to your family._

 _Give my well-wishes to Edie, would you? Albus said the babies' birth was a bit of an event and I hope she's recovering well. While I don't often have much free time thanks to my rascals (Harry's only started crawling, but he's already a speedy little thing! You can't turn your back on him for even a moment), I still managed to finish crocheting a pair of bonnets for your little ones. And so Darla doesn't become jealous, I made her a little coin purse. Though, I suppose she can put whatever she wishes in it, since I imagine she doesn't much carry around money yet._

 _With love,_

 _Lily_

-O-

 _Lily,_

 _Thank you very much for your gifts. Edie promptly put the bonnets on the girls and deemed them perfect. I expect we will get much use out of them in the coming months. As for Darla, she adores her little purse and uses it to carry around her doll's toy bottle._

 _I've passed along your concern to Edie and she thanks you for it. She has asked me to tell you she is feeling much better now that she's home._

 _And since you asked, Lottie was named so thanks in part to Darla. It's really not much of a story, but since you asked… Darla had met McGonagall briefly before the babies were born and was suitably impressed by her. When asked what she thought we should call the twins a time later, she suggested that one be named after our old professor. After her act of bravery on the day of my daughters' births, I decided to forgo my choice of Amata in favor of Darla's suggestion and name Charlotte as my sister wanted. Thankfully, Edie was quite accommodating to my abrupt change of heart. I know she did not much care for the name herself._

 _I hope this letter finds you and your family well,_

 _Severus_

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	17. When War Finds Home

_Black Eyes_

* * *

Edie walked backward into Mr. Mulpepper's Diagon Alley apothecary, pulling the babies' pram in behind her with Darla bringing up the rear. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw Severus's boss coming out of the backroom. When his eyes found her, the old man hurried to hold the shop's door open wide for her. "Hello, Edie! What's brought you to Diagon Alley?"

Smiling at the old man she'd begun to think of as something of a father-figure, she replied, "Hi, Mr. Mulpepper. Sev'rus said yeh we're workin' here fer the afternoon. An' since the weather's so nice, I thought I'd take the girls on a walk ter Diagon ter see yeh."

"How kind of you," Mr. Mulpepper said, the usually hard lines around his eyes a little gentler.

Edie shrugged. "I just thought yeh'd enjoy seein' 'em. The twins are almost three months now," she told him.

He leaned over the pram and peered in. "My, already? Why it feels like it was just yesterday Severus brought them into Knockturn's shop for all of us to meet." The old man's attention was abruptly pulled away from the pram and to something next to him. It took all of a moment for Edie to realize Darla had gone from her side to Mr. Mulpepper's.

"'Lo, Mr. Mulpepper!"

The old man grinned at the little girl. "How do you do, Darla?"

"Well, thank you," her tiny voiced replied in perfect mimicry of Severus's posh accent. "May I have a fizzy wizzy?"

He chuckled and reached into his pocket. "You've got me trained like a dog, do you know that, Darla? I've learned to keep fizzy wizzies in all of my robes' pockets since you've started to visit my apothecaries."

There was a distinctive crunch as Darla bit into her candy. "I dunno 'bout dogs, but I'm trainin' the babies to say Darla. They're pretty good at the 'da' part so far."

Edie held back a sigh. "Yeh don't train babies, Darla, yeh _teach_ 'em."

She heard a small scoff from the other side of the pram and Edie was about to order the little girl back to her side to scold her for her disregard when into the shop ran a young Hogwarts-aged wizard.

His upper lip was wet with sweat and brown eyes as large as bludgers. "Death Eaters are coming this way!" he shouted.

Mr. Mulpepper's face hardened and with a determined air, he reached into the pram, pulling out Eileen. "Get your other girl, we'll all head to the storage closet to wait this out," he told her. Turning to the reedy, middle-aged witch behind the apothecary's counter, he ordered, "Liza, go unlock the storage closet for us and our customers!"

The woman jogged out from behind the counter and around the corner as Edie lifted Lottie into her arms. However, their group hardly took a step away from where they were by the doors before the windows exploded inward, raining glass on them.

"Get down!" howled the young wizard to Edie's right.

She didn't hesitate a moment. Throwing herself to the floor, she tried to smother the cries of her daughter by pressing her tiny face into her collarbone. Edie lifted her head slightly and peered out only to see a curse or hex of some kind skim over the top of the babies' upturned pram, slicing the side open. She sucked in a breath and blinked back tears. It was purchased with the help of money gifted to them by Mr. Mulpepper at their wedding and she hated to see it ruined. Suddenly, Darla began to cry.

"Darla!" Edie shouted. She was about to start crawling toward Severus's sister when she felt a hand on her leg. She looked over her shoulder to see it was the Hogwarts's student.

His expression was still wrought with fear, but she saw a gleam of determination in his eyes. "I'll go to her!" he told Edie. "Crawling around with all the glass and your baby is dangerous!"

Edie didn't like the thought of letting a stranger tend to her family, but she knew he was right. She didn't want to accidentally hurt Lottie while attempting to help Darla. She nodded at the young wizard and watched as he slowly dragged himself around the pram. Soon, all she could see was his short legs peeking out from behind the pram's basket.

"Shit!" he roared. "She's been hit with something! There's a giant gash on back."

Fresh tears springing to her eyes, Edie clutched Lottie closer. "Darla!" she wailed.

"Edie!" the little girl sobbed back.

Mr. Mulpepper joined the noise. "Take your robe off and lay it on top of her, lad!" he commanded at the Hogwarts's student. "Good! Press it down. Don't be gentle, you need to stem the bleeding until it's safe to get up!"

The minutes dragged on and Edie kept trying to look back and see if the Death Eaters were gone. Suddenly, there was a lot of shouting and swearing outside followed by a series of popping sounds that Edie knew to be a sign of the Death Eaters disapparating away. She waited a moment more, and then she got up. Bouncing her still crying baby, she hurried over to the other side of the pram and dropped to her knees. "Oh, Darla!" she exclaimed upon seeing the child's pale face.

"Take this one," Mr. Mulpepper said, handing her a shrieking Eileen. "I'll go to the storage closet and grab dittany and a Blood Replenisher. It might not be enough, but it should give us enough time to flag down one of the Aurors outside and get her to St. Mungo's."

As he disappeared to where his store clerk had gone at the start of the battle, Edie spoke softly to her little sister. "Yeh're goin' ter be fine, Darla. Mr. Mulpepper's gettin' stuff ter make yeh feel a bit better till we can get yeh ter the hospital." She looked up from the girl's face a moment to the young wizard holding his robe on top of Darla's back. He was grim-faced and staring intently at his hands.

"Hey," she called. "Hey."

The Hogwarts-aged wizard looked up. "Thank yeh, fer yer help."

He grimaced. "Don't thank me. I'm just doing what's right."

Edie was about to assure him that he deserved her gratitude when Mr. Mulpepper reappeared. He knelt down next to Darla and told the young wizard to pull aside his robe. He did and the wound on Darla's back bleeding picked up. The old man shook his jar of dittany over Darla's cut until it was covered. At that point, he told the younger male, "Press your robe back down on her wound."

The young wizard immediately went back to work. As he pressed, Darla whimpered and tried to pull away.

"Shhh…" Edie tried to soothe, "stay still."

Mr. Mulpper took Darla's chin in his hand and said, "Open up, sweetheart."

Darla parted her lips and Mr. Mulpepper pressed the potion's bottle to her lips. At that point, Severus's little sister tried to pull away. "Nooo…" she whined.

"I know it tastes horrendous," the old man said kindly, "but you must drink it."

Reluctantly, Darla complied. Soon the potion bottle was pulled away from her lips and the little girl looked a little pinker. Edie relaxed a fraction in response. They were nowhere near out of the woods, but at least Darla didn't look quite so sickly. Mr. Mulpepper rose to his feet and started for the windows of his shop, shouting as he went, "Help! There's a little girl who's been injured! Help!"

-o-O-o-

Skittering into the hospital room holding his little sister, Severus nearly passed out from his relief when he saw her laid out on her stomach flipping through the comic pages of a newspaper. Breathing heavily, he gasped, "Darla!"

The girl looked up. "Sev!" she yelled. She attempted to get up, but Edie put a firm hand on her thigh and said, "The healer said ter stay still, Darla."

She pouted, but stopped moving. Darla then gave Severus the biggest puppy-dog eyes he'd ever seen out of her and said, "I wanna hug."

He laughed and strode over to his sister. Gently wrapping his arms around her narrow shoulders, Severus kissed the top of Darla's blonde head and whispered, "Thank Merlin you're okay."

To his left, Edie was getting to her feet to pick up one of their whimpering daughters. As she cradled Eileen and started to undo the buttons on her blouse, she said to him, "The healer wants ter keep her overnight fer observation—"

Severus cut in to tell his wife, "—I'll spend the night here."

Edie smiled. "I expected as much. I'll take the babies home." Then, her brows drooped with sorrow. "The healer said it's goin' ter scar."

Grief began to pull Severus's lips downward. His little, not even five-year-old, sister was going to have a jagged scar running down her back for life? That wasn't going to do. Severus would find a way to fix—

"David says scars are wicked, 'cause they show you're strong!" Darla proclaimed happily.

Severus's gaze darted to Edie and he raised an eyebrow in question.

His wife chuckled. "David's the boy who stopped Darla from bleedin' too much after she was cursed."

"Yeah! He's really nice an' he goes to Hogwarts an' he's a Hufflepuff!" Darla chimed in as Edie turned her back on them to nurse with a little more privacy.

He took a seat next to his sister. "Oh?" he replied.

Darla nodded. "Yep! He came in after the healers were all done fixin' my owie to make sure I was gonna be okay."

"That was kind of him," Severus remarked. Slowly he began to pepper her with more questions about this boy; such as how old he was and what he looked like. Severus knew it would only be a matter of time before he met this boy for himself while teaching potions at Hogwarts and he had every intention of thanking him for his help with Darla when the time came. He could have very well saved his little sister's life.

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	18. Summer's End

_Black Eyes_

* * *

The day after sending a belated birthday card to Lily's son and a week before Darla's fifth birthday Severus's family moved into his new quarters at Hogwarts. It was a quick affair overall. Most of the furniture in the safe house they had been living in was never theirs to start with and what they did own was quite minimal. Packing it up and moving it into their mostly furnished rooms at Hogwarts only took the better half of the day.

It was shortly after they finished that Albus and Minerva stopped by to see how they were settling in. While Edie nursed Lottie in the other room, Severus let Albus and Minerva take turns holding Eileen as Darla sat on his knee regaling them with stories about the day's events. Severus was actually quite happy with the arrangement as it meant he could relax a moment and think about other matters.

One such thing was lesson plans for the coming year. He'd sketched a few very basic ones for first through fourth years the last few nights after putting Darla to bed, but he'd quite like it if he could get his hands on some of Slughorn's old ones for the upper years. He was worried any he made on his own wouldn't be as detailed as they ought to be to properly prepare fifth-years for OWLs and seventh-years for NEWTs.

"Sev'rus why don't our guests have tea?" Edie asked from behind, drawing him out his thoughts with her disapproving tone.

He rolled his eyes. "They declined it."

As she took a seat on the arm of his chair Severus sighed a little and shifted so his wife could distribute herself more comfortably. Why couldn't she sit in the perfectly serviceable (and empty!) chair at the end of the coffee table?

Minerva and Albus exchanged a knowing look. Undoubtedly they'd seen more than their fair share of couples bicker— Though, he imagined most of the couples they encountered were teenagers. Severus had to reckon bickering looked the same no matter what age, even if what it was they were rowing about changed over the years.

"…There was another purpose to our visit," Albus said after a beat of silence.

"Oh?" Severus prompted.

The headmaster nodded. "Yes," he answered. "Moving can be quite tiring and we thought perhaps you might let us mind your children for an hour or two so you can have a rest?"

Severus and Edie didn't even have to confer. A couple of hours free of all the girls was an opportunity they knew better than to pass up. "I'll pack you a bag for the babies," Edie said as she sprung to her feet and left the room.

His wife now gone to prepare the bag, Severus pushed his sister out of his lap. "Go get any toys you might want to play with while Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall mind you."

While his girls were gone, he said with great emotion, "Thank you. We've not had a moment to ourselves since… Late June, I think. When Mr. Mulpepper and his wife agreed to watch the girls for the evening so we could have a quiet dinner together."

"You're welcome, Severus," Albus replied as Minerva nodded in agreement. "A couple of hours spent in the company of your children will be refreshing for us as much as it will be for you."

Severus thought they were going to find it more tiring than inspiring to entertain two grabby three-month-olds and a demanding almost-five-year-old, but he didn't say that. He wasn't going to put them off watching his girls lest they back out. Edie would absolutely murder him if that happened, she, more than him, needed this break. At least he had work to attend to around Hogwarts where he could get a moment alone, she was stuck all day with the children.

A couple of minutes later, Edie returned with a bag in one hand and Lottie in the other and Darla trailing after her with her babydoll, Bessie, and one of her puzzles. She then handed Lottie off to Minerva, who cooed down at the infant, and the bag to Dumbledore, rattling off directions as she did so. A couple of minutes later the two left Severus's quarters with Darla between them. Once they were gone, he turned to Edie, grinning with excitement.

"What should we do?" he asked.

She smiled back. A swagger to her step, she walked over to Severus and took his face in her hands. "How about somethin' fun, hm?"

"That sounds brilliant," he agreed before capturing her lips with his own.

-o-O-o-

Darla clapped her hands along with everyone singing "Happy Birthday to You" to her and when they finished, laughed joyfully before blowing out the candles on her pink chocolate cake. After she finished and Edie began to pluck the still warm candles from her cake, she looked over at Severus and asked, "Now can I open my presents?"

Some of the other adults in attendance, Mrs. Mulpepper, Albus, and Hagrid, notably, chuckled as he gaped at her in exasperation. He next raised an eyebrow at Edie, who smiled back at him and shrugged. Well, if the decision was up to him… He didn't see any harm in allowing her to open the gifts first this once. This was the first birthday party any of them had ever had and he didn't want to say no and risk a fit from his little sister. It would ruin the mood and potentially the party as well.

Next year they could teach her patience.

So, with a great put-upon sigh, Severus went around the table and swung her out her chair. "Just this year," he told her. "You're supposed to save opening presents for last."

Darla whooped and ran off to the small stack they had by the door to their family's quarters. She stopped before them, little brows furrowed. There were too many for her to carry them all over to the table at once. But Darla had just received a pram for her doll this morning from Severus and Edie and it wasn't far from her collection of gifts. Scurrying over to it, she flung Bessie out her pram (he made a note to have a talk with Darla about throwing children from prams later. He was certain she wouldn't do that to her nieces, but a reminder wouldn't hurt, he thought) and brought the vehicle over to the stack and piled the presents into it.

Eyes appraising as she approached the table with her pram of gifts, Minerva said, "Why, isn't she a clever thing?"

His little sister beamed as he said, "Yes she is, we're very proud."

Getting back up in her seat, she pulled out one gift from the top and squinted at the tag on it. "This is from… Mr. an' Mrs. Mulpepper!" she proclaimed. Ripping into the shiny white paper, she revealed a diary with a butterfly embroidered on its leather cover. "Oooh," she murmured.

"Edie told us you are learning to write now, I had a diary as a girl that I liked to write in about my day and I thought you might enjoy doing the same," Mrs. Mulpepper explained.

Darla hummed happily and put the present aside. Before she could go to get another to open, however, Edie called, "Darla, wha' do yeh say?"

"Thank you!" she yelled, staring at the Mulpeppers.

Mr. and Mrs. Mulpepper, who were now holding hands and leaning against each other, smiled at his little sister. "You're very welcome, sweetheart."

His little sister smiled some more before reaching into her toy pram for another gift. As he watched the festivities go on, Severus couldn't help but marvel at all that he was seeing. On his right was Albus, Minerva, and Hagrid smiling and clapping for his little sister as she showed off her gifts. And across from Severus sat Edie, their daughters in her arms, with the Mulpeppers standing behind her, wearing proud grins as Darla thanked her guests for their presents. Severus had never experienced such a pleasant birthday before. He hoped all would be like this in the future.

Briefly, he tried to imagine what he would be doing right now if his parents were still alive and had Darla. He reckoned he'd still be with her at this time, but he would be at his parents' home on Spinner's End. He and Darla would probably be quietly playing with whatever small gift he bought for her while his mother nervously hovered close by, watching for Severus's father to return from the pub. In spite of it being Darla's birthday, no one would be happy. His mother would be upset because his father was missing Darla's birthday. As for Severus, he would be displeased because his mother was upset and because his father was out drinking away money he should have used to buy his little sister a new dress or a birthday cake. And Darla would be sad because everyone else was unhappy and because Severus wouldn't be staying and their parents were going to row when Dad finally stumbled past the front door.

And if Darla didn't exist at all… Severus couldn't imagine what he would be doing now. It felt impossible. Darla was too much a part of his life for him to properly picture what it would be like without her at all. Though, he was certain if there was no Darla his life would be far less joyful.

Silently, he thanked the fates for Darla and all of the experiences, opportunities, and people she'd brought into his life in the process.

-o-O-o-

A few weeks later Severus agreed to allow Darla at the Sorting Ceremony on the condition she behaved herself. There would be no toys at the staff table, crawling under the table, whining, or attempting to eat before the sorting was done. She would have to whisper if she had questions and not make faces at students coming up to the stool or at the tables. If she was not good, she would not be allowed to go to another Sorting Ceremony until her own when she was eleven.

Darla insisted she'd be the very best girl ever and with great reluctance, he took her to the ceremony. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her as students walked up and were sorted. Each time she'd lean forward in her seat, eyes wide and holding her breath in preparation to cheer along with the house who the child would be sorted into. A few times, Severus nudged her to get her to take a breath when her face would start to go a bit blue from waiting.

When a student was sorted, she'd throw up her skinny arms and holler along with the students— No matter the house they went to. She seemed to take great fun in this part and since she was doing so well at being quiet in the in-betweens, he didn't stop her. She was a bit over-enthusiastic, but there was no guarantee she'd be so again next year or the year after that and so on once the Sorting Ceremony became less magical and more ho-hum.

As the ceremony continued, he was surprised to never see her excitement waver for even a moment. A few times, she leaned over to ask a question about this and that, such as why some children took so long to be sorted. He answered that not everyone was more brave than cunning or loyal than clever, sometimes, it was more up to the student where they wanted to go than the hat.

"Can I be Slytherin even though you say I'm cleverer than a Ravenclaw?" she'd asked after his explanation.

He nodded. "Without a doubt if that's what you truly want. The Sorting Hat wants you to be happy with where you go too."

She pursed her lips. "D'you want me to be Slytherin?"

"I want you where you'll do best, be it Slytherin, Ravenclaw, or even Gryffindor."

She giggled. "That's silly! I'll never go to Gryffindor!"

Severus wasn't so sure about that one. She'd been admirably courageous during the Death Eater attack in the summer and showed an overall resilience that sometimes amazed him. However, instead of saying so, he laughed to himself. Time would tell where she would go and there was no point arguing over something so far off. If she threw a tantrum over it, the fault would lay with him, not her, and he'd feel quite awful about ruining the evening for everyone. "We'll see," he said instead.

Darla didn't hear him, however, as the hat had just roared, "RAVENCLAW!" and, now, a redheaded boy was all but running to join his house's table. She screamed along with the rest of the students, clapping and stamping her feet.

He grinned then, deciding to let the subject drop and instead choosing to focus on the show that was his little sister and the Sorting Ceremony.

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	19. Learning Curve

_Black Eyes_

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Severus did not like teaching. Most of his students were dunderheads with ears full of cotton. He could write it on the board and repeat a dozen times to not over-stir their Sleeping Draught or that their Boil-Cure needed exactly four horned-slugs and they would still manage to mess up their potions. After a month of melted cauldrons, noxious fumes, and near-death experiences Severus was ready to tear out his hair.

"Honestly, it's as if they all have death-wishes!" he complained to Edie as he changed Eileen's nappy.

Next to him, in the process of cleaning up spit-up from Lottie's face, his wife nodded. "Can yeh break up yer classes anymore? One for firs' year Gryffindors, another fer Hufflepuffs? Maybe it'd make them more manageable."

He shook his head. "No," he answered in a mournful tone. After his first week of classes, he'd requested to do the exact same thing. However, Albus had told him absolutely not and any attempt to argue with him lead to two oscillating answers. Either it was impossible because it would break tradition, which Hogwarts prided itself on, or the Board of Governors would have a conniption when they caught wind of Severus and Albus moving away from the customary way of teaching. Severus thought both were shit reasons, but he'd long since given up asking as it was getting him nowhere toward a solution.

As he threw Eileen's old nappy in the vanishing bin, he grumbled, "I have half a mind to just start giving detentions to anyone who ruins a cauldron, take house points away from those who don't follow directions, and yell at the rest when they get off task."

"They're gonna all hate yeh if yeh do tha'," Edie warned as she turned Lottie around in her arms so his daughter was facing him and Eileen.

Finished with pinning Eileen's new nappy, Severus redid the buttons of his daughter's babygro and lifted her above his head before settling her in his arms after she started to giggle. "I've already sent a classroom-worth to Poppy for burns, another two or three for smoke-blindness, and one for _moon seed poisoning_ after he took up a bloody dare from one of his classmates. If it means I won't be sending scores of children to Poppy's halls every week I don't think I'll care if they hate me."

"They'll hate yeh, but they can't do anythin' accept complain about yeh–"

"–Exactly," Severus cut in.

Edie glared at him. "Fer now. Wha' happens when Darla starts school? Eileen? Lottie?"

His own school days flashed before his eyes. Without a doubt, it would be worse than that. Nearly the whole school would be targeting his sister and daughters to exact revenge against him. "We'll send them to Beauxbatons," he said.

"Sev'rus, _no_."

He scowled. "What would you have me do then, Edie?"

Her gaze drifted down to Lottie. Smiling at their daughter, she offered her her hand and let the baby chew on her fingers. "Be stern," she told him. "Have them brew in groups o' four o' five so there will be fewer cauldrons ter watch still if yeh can't split up yer classes. If the potion turns out wrong, the whole group fails. Tha'll help make them be more accountable. But make sure they got a list o' wha' everyone's in charge o' an' did, so they're all doin' their part. If they fail, give them the chance ter make up their grade ter an acceptable through an essay or brewin' another time with yeh one-on-one or two-on-one o' somethin'."

It sounded like a lot more work (and less satisfying) than just deducting points, assigning detentions, and yelling, yet Severus saw quite a bit of merit in the plan Edie was suggesting. Perhaps the little dunderheads would actually learn something— Even if it was only how to cut a flobberworm for a few of them. He also had high hopes it would keep him from becoming the most hated professor at Hogwarts. Which was by far for the best if he wanted Darla and the babies to be able to attend Hogwarts when they turned eleven.

With a defeated sigh, he said, "I'll give it a try."

Smiling at him, Edie leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Tha's my Sev'rus."

-o-O-o-

One Saturday in late September while walking with his little sister through Hogwarts corridors on their way to the kitchens, Darla stopped and pointed at a Hufflepuff boy with a couple of Ravenclaw girls. "That's David!" she exclaimed. "Can we go say hi?"

Severus nodded. He'd been meaning to thank him for what he did over the summer anyhow. If he waited too much longer he would probably just look insincere when he did give the teenager his gratitude. Walking over, he greeted, "Hello, Mr. Chopra." Then he dipped his head at the girls. "Ms. Higgs, Ms. Brunt."

Almost bouncing next to him, Darla said, "Hi, David!"

The teenager seemed slightly embarrassed at Darla's enthusiasm and the girls he was with had their heads bent together and were whispering to one another. He thought he heard one of them ask the other how Darla knew Mr. Chopra's first name. Putting a hand on his little sister's head to still some of her vibrations, he told the Hufflepuff, "I've been meaning to speak to you personally for some time now." He looked at the Ravenclaws. "Yet I've refrained from asking you to remain after class lest it create… _unwanted attention_ for you." Severus hoped the girls would get the hint to leave, but he wasn't going to save his breath. Ms. Brunt was one of the largest gossipmongers in Hogwarts right now and Ms. Higgs wasn't going to go anywhere without her friend.

Mr. Chopra nodded his head as his ears turned noticeably darker. "It's fine and, um, thanks."

"I would have waited a little longer for a more opportune time, but Darla wished to say hello," Severus explained apologetically. "And I rarely can deny her," he added in a light, teasing tone directed at his sister, who giggled in response.

The Hufflepuff chuckled too and turned a tiny smile on Darla. "No, it's okay, really," he assured Severus. Then a little haltingly, he started, "You, um, look really well, Darla." At his sister's ever brightening smile, he asked in a rush, "How's your scar? It doesn't bother you, does it? My mum's get kind of tight sometimes."

"It's wicked!" Darla told him delightedly. "Edie says it makes me look _suuuper_ strong when I come out of the bath!"

Mr. Chopra's eyes became nearly gooey at his little sister's proclamation. "That's great."

Severus stuck his hand out at the teenager. He went cross-eyed staring at it. "It's for shaking, Mr. Chopra," Severus told him.

"Um," he replied.

He barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes as he explained, "I wanted to properly thank you for what you did in Diagon Alley. It was very brave of you to do what you did and I know it helped save Darla's life."

The teenager went several shades darker than he was at his gratitude. "Really, it's okay. It's like I told your, um, wife? I was just doing the right thing. I couldn't let a little kid bleed to death…"

"Even so," replied Severus. "It means a great deal to me and I want you to know if you ever need help with anything I'll happily offer my time and services."

Mr. Chopra blinked in stunned silence, then he said, "Wow, okay. Thank you, sir."

Severus waved a flippant hand before gathering Darla close and saying, "Come, we have to go the kitchens. Edie wanted us to talk with the House-elves about food options for the twins now that they're about ready to start on solids, remember?"

Darla sighed, but nodded. "And I'll get a biscuit."

"We'll see," he replies, rolling his eyes. Trust that Darla would attempt to make him promise her a treat in front of others to bully him into agreeing. For all her adoration of puzzles and her obvious cleverness, Severus had a feeling Slytherin would be the only house for her when she turned eleven. "Goodbye, Mr. Chopra," he said. "Ms. Brunt, Ms. Higgs," he added as they started to move away from the teenagers.

As they strolled away, he kept her ears open for what the girls might say to Mr. Chopra. As expected, Ms. Brunt spoke first.

"You saved Professor Snape's sister's life? Why have you never mentioned this before, David!"

Mr. Chopra's voice was softer as he told her, "I was just doing the right thing. I didn't feel right going around to share it with everyone…"

"Ugh, David! You should have at least told us. We're your best friends!" complained Ms. Higgs.

Severus snorted, drawing his little sister's gaze. "What?" she asked.

"Oh, just recalling something someone said to me," he lied. "Now, if I were to allow you a biscuit, what kind would you like?"

Darla whooped before she began to jabber off the pros and cons of her favorite types of biscuits.

* * *

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	20. Halloween

_Black Eyes_

* * *

Halloween morning was a hectic one. He had Lottie on his knee and she kept trying to tip forward to grab the bowl of fruit purée that was her breakfast off the table while Severus argued with Darla about how much marmalade she could have on her slice of toast. She wanted it slathered on in a thick layer, but Severus knew if he put that much on her breakfast she wouldn't eat it.

At the other end of the table, Eileen was crying in the twins' highchair, obviously just as hungry as Darla and Lottie, but nowhere near the morning's spread and unhappy about it. Growing frustrated very quickly with all of the commotion, Severus yelled, "Edie!"

Of course, his wife didn't answer— Just like she hadn't the last three times. Completely done with having no help on top of his first potions class of the day starting in less than fifteen minutes, Severus got to his feet and yelled at Darla, "Sit down!"

She fell completely silent and sat back in her chair, staring up at Severus behind her too-long blonde fringe (he would have to tell Edie to trim it later). He felt a pang of guilt in his chest; he hadn't meant to scare Darla, just to make her stop and listen to him. He sighed. Handing down Lottie to the girl, he told her, "Please feed Lottie while I see what's keeping Edie."

Severus then pushed the fruit purée within his sister's reach and handed her the spoon. He watched a moment to make sure it wouldn't be too difficult for Darla and then went over and pulled Eileen from the highchair. Instantly, she wound her little fingers into his hair as she laid her head down on his shoulder. Wincing from the pain of her tugging as he swept out of the room, Severus went to his and Edie's bedroom, calling once more, "Edie?"

Feeling more and more concerned instead of irritated at her lack of answer, he pushed open the door. "Edie," he said again, but with a note of relief when he saw her sitting on the bed. Walking around their bed so they were face-to-face his worry doubled yet again when he saw the blank expression she wore. Kneeling down, he touched her cheek. "Edie?"

"Oh, Sev…" she mumbled. "' D'yeh have ter leave fer class?" she asked, stretching out her arms for Eileen.

Severus pulled away. "Edie, what's wrong?" he asked.

"I," she stared, only to shake her head. "I took a pregnancy tes' an', well…" she gestured to the adjoining loo. "See fer yerself."

His heart stuttered and he did exactly as Edie told him to. Going into the bathroom, he noticed the bowl by the sink and went over. Looking over the edge of it, he swore when he saw the potion in it was blue. Blue meant pregnant. Walking out of the bathroom, he asked, "How…?"

"Must o' been from tha' time in August'," she said.

Severus sat down next to Edie. "But we – I – used a sheath."

"I guess it was broken o' somethin'," his wife whispered, "because…" she covered her stomach with her hand and clutched the fabric over it.

He brought his arm up and wrapped it around Edie's shoulder and pulled her close. "You can take another test in a few days, just to make sure. But if you are… What do you want to do?"

"Wha' do I want ter do?"

He nodded. Hesitantly, he told her, "We don't have to… keep it, if you don't want another baby right now."

She turned her head and looked up at him, hazel eyes very gray as she searched his gaze. "Do yeh not want the baby?"

Severus didn't know. Another baby so soon sounded like a disaster waiting to happen, but he thought they could make do if they kept the baby. Severus was making a decent salary and he was sure if they needed to, he could find them a minder to come by a few times a week to help Edie with the girls and the new baby. All in all, Severus would be fine with another, but it would be Edie who was doing most of the work, he knew.

He kissed his wife. "I'll be happy with whatever you decide," he told her. "It's you who will be caring for the baby and the girls most of the time. I'll help, hire you a minder to help, and whatever else you need. But if you think it will still be too much… I'll understand if we don't keep this one."

Edie sniffled and wiped at her eyes. "I… I don't know wha' I want."

"That's fine," he assured Edie. "We have some time."

Severus wished with all of him he could stay with his wife longer to help her through her indecision, but he was late for class and his students were unlikely to stick around much longer and wait for him. Kissing Edie one more time, he pressed Eileen into her hands and promised, "I'll be back as soon as my class is over. Darla's feeding Lottie in the kitchen."

As he began to leave their bedroom, he stopped just shy of the threshold. "I love you, Edie," he said, looking back at her.

His wife stared back at him, smiling slowly. "I love yeh too, Sev."

-o-O-o-

Severus didn't want to bring his little sister to the Halloween Feast in the Great Hall; not after the morning's revelation. However, Edie insisted he take Darla. Eyes glittering with determination she told him, "Yeh promised. Take Darla an' enjoy yerselves. I'll be fine fer an hour o' two with the babies."

He reached for her hands and cradled them in his own. "Are you sure?" he asked. "Feeding the twins alone is getting to be a handful and with what you have on your mind…"

Edie rolled her eyes and gave him a little push toward Darla's room. "I've been handlin' things jus' fine all day. If I really need help, I'll call one o' the house-elves. Take yer sister an' go."

"Okay, we'll go!" he grumbled. Popping his head into his sister's room, he called, "Are you ready to leave, Darla?"

She turned around and Severus saw she'd dressed up a bit for the festivities. She wore a necklace made of beads shaped and painted to look like Jack o' lanterns and her tights were striped purple and black. He grinned at her. "Don't you look nice?"

"Edie helped me pick 'em out!" Darla gushed.

Walking over, Severus swept up his sister and swung her onto his back. She'd gotten too big for his shoulders lately and he knew it wouldn't be too much longer he could carry her around on his back. It was a bittersweet realization. His sister was growing up, which was wicked, but it was sad that he couldn't do some of the simple things he used to do to make Darla smile. As they left their quarters, he stopped by the kitchen and said to her, "Say goodbye to Edie and the babies."

Grinning, Darla waved at them. "Bye babies, bye Edie," she called, finishing off her farewells by blowing a kiss to each.

Edie smiled back at him and his sister and blew them return kisses. "Have fun, my dears."

-O-

Toward the end of the Halloween feast, Severus's dark mark began to burn. Inwardly he cursed and looked at his little sister. She was fully absorbed in the play Hogwarts's ghosts were putting on for the students and professors and he loathed to pull her away from it. Darla would be terribly upset at not being able to see the show to its end and would probably kick up a fuss if he tried to make them leave early.

Glancing to the right of him, he saw Aurora idly playing with scraps left from dinner on her plate as she gazed up at the ghosts. They didn't talk too much, in spite of often sitting next to one another, but Severus trusted his little sister with her much more than he did this year's defense professor to his left. He had caught the git leering at too many of Hogwarts's youngest students for him to ever let him talk to Darla let alone escort her back to his and his family's quarters alone.

"Aurora," he said.

The brown-skinned witch looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Yes, Severus?"

"Can you take Darla back to my quarters after the show is over?" he asked the older witch. "I just recalled I have a potion brewing in my office that needs me to tend to it in exactly ten minutes and the play has at least another fifteen minutes left I reckon."

She met his gaze and nodded. "Yes, I can do that. Do I need a password or can I just knock?"

"Darla knows the password, but if the show's over in the next twenty minutes you will be fine. The babies aren't put to bed for another half an hour."

"Alright."

Rising to his feet, he said, "Thank you, if you ever need anything…"

"I'll talk to you," she agreed.

Severus then turned to his sister and whispered in her ear, "I have a potion to take care of in my office. Professor Aurora Sinistra will take you back to our quarters after the show, do you understand?"

Darla glanced away from the ghosts and to him, then to Aurora, who wriggled her fingers in hello at his little sister. "Professor Aurora's takin' me to our rooms, okay," she said.

He patted her head. "Good girl."

As Severus slipped from the Great Hall and left to join the ranks of the Lord's Death Eaters he wondered what it was the Lord was calling them for. Their mission to assassinate one of the minister's aids wasn't for another three days. As he stepped off Hogwarts grounds to disapparate Severus reminded himself he would know soon enough.

* * *

 **We're winding down to the end here! Your guys thoughts this chapter?**

 **Thank you all very much for reading!**


	21. A New Chapter

_Black Eyes_

* * *

Severus was exhausted and deadened to all when returned to Hogwarts after the night's events. Or that was what he thought up until Albus began to make noise about sending Lily's son to live with Petunia and her family. It was then Severus felt as if someone unexpectedly poured cold water on him. What in Merlin's name was Albus thinking? Petunia would eat Harry alive. Woken out of his stupor of grief, pain, and fatigue, he boomed, "Absolutely not!"

The other dual staff and Order of the Phoenix members in attendance all looked at him in bewilderment. Now that he had their undivided attention, he repeated in a quieter, more damning tone, "Absolutely not. You will not send Lily's son – _a wizard_ – to live with a woman who was senselessly cruel to her sister for an ability she had no choice in having."

Albus started to argue, "That was when they were children—"

"—Lily and I may have only exchanged a handful of cards and letters over the last year, but she did tell me about her wedding and what happened with 'Tuney. That bitch hasn't changed in the slightest since we were children," Severus growled, tensing where he sat. "She hates magic just as much as she always has. Merlin, if she held any love at all for her sister still, I'm certain her hate for magic will only grow once she knows of its part in killing Lily!"

The Headmaster sighed. "It is for the best. A charm to protect Harry until he reaches of age can be created through the shared blood between Lily and her sister and he can spend the next ten years unburdened by his fame by growing up in the Muggle world."

Getting to his feet, Severus began to pace the length of the room. "Perhaps it will protect Harry from attacks of a magical nature, but what about from Petunia and her family? They may feel obligated to raise him as it's the proper, normal response of family with means when a relative dies and leaves behind a child, but they will not be happy. In fact, I reckon they will be angry and loathful and make sure Harry grows up knowing they took him in because it was expected and nothing more." He turns to face the headmaster. Meeting his glacial gaze, he asks, "You may be able to keep him alive by sending him to Petunia, but there is no guarantee when he returns to our world he'll be whole."

"What would you have us do with Harry, Severus? Have him grow up spoiled and self-important in a wizard family? If the wizard family isn't attacked and killed for taking in Harry in the first place."

Severus thought over the possibilities. He almost offered his home, Severus knew he could keep Harry as safe as he would need to be to reach eleven and beyond. He'd also ensure he didn't grow up self-important. Yet taking him in would be highly unfair to Harry and his girls. Severus and Edie were doing well enough, but with another possible baby on the way… They would be stretched for money sooner rather than later if they took in Lily's son. He would grow up with less, not more, and constantly vying for his and Edie's attention. And if Severus was honest, he feared he might not be a very good father to a boy – thanks to his own father – let alone a boy who already looked so much like his late father and Severus's ex-bully. Severus may have been neutral toward Potter before the man died, but if his son started to show he was more his son rather than Lily's… He wasn't sure he wouldn't turn cruel toward the boy.

The Order could always ship Harry to live abroad with an ambassador's family, he supposed. But would any of England's ambassadors want Harry? And if they did, would they treat him like a normal child or a little prince? Would they be able to properly protect him should someone who wishes Harry dead hear he was living in France or Canada or Belize? It could be too late for the family if the potential killer's plot was found out after they left the country. It would also be much harder to monitor them and ensure Harry was growing up well-adjusted and not spoiled or treated like a house-elf.

Finally, Severus tried to remember if Lily had any other close family they could place Harry with. He recalled something about an uncle visiting from Australia one Christmas during their first or second year of Hogwarts. Surely there had to be more family besides just the one uncle? Lily's parents had been born before the invention of the pill. Even Severus's own father had once had a pair of younger brothers, though they had died after catching polio, leaving him his parents' only surviving child when his father was about eleven or twelve.

Slowly, Severus told Albus, "There… There has to be more family on Lily's side other than Petunia. I know she had one uncle at least. Surely there are some cousins with young families or middle-aged aunts or uncles with the means to raise a child who would take Harry in and raise him happily." Addressing the room, he said, "Give me a week to find them and gauge how willing they would be to adopting an infant. If I find none or they are no better than 'Tuney, you can place Harry with his aunt, but until then…"

"Where will we place Harry in the meantime to keep him safe?" asked Minerva.

Severus gestured to himself. "Edie won't mind watching another child for a short time. She often minded several closely-aged cousins at once whilst growing up for long periods."

Albus didn't look terribly pleased with Severus's proposed plan, but Minerva and Hagrid seemed happy enough to let Severus find a more suitable home than Petunia's for Harry. It was a relief they were willing to trust him, a former Death Eater and rival of James Potter, with finding Harry a good home. He had feared they would balk at the idea of him being the one to search for more family or just at him questioning Albus at all. For them, and for Harry, he would do his best to find a family for the boy where he could grow up happy and loved, but humble.

-o-O-o-

The morning after Voldemort's defeat and the murders of the Potters, Severus walked into his family's quarters with Lily's son on his hip. From the lounge area, he could already hear that Edie and the girls were awake and eating together in the kitchenette. He turned his attention to Harry, who was rubbing tiredly at his eyes. The toddler couldn't have gotten much sleep last night and would probably need a kip after breakfast. But before that, introductions had to be made and explanations given.

"I hope you're an attention-whore like your father," Severus muttered to Harry before he straightened out his shoulders and strode into his family's kitchenette. Of course, as soon as he did, Darla and Edie fell silent in the middle of their conversation and the babies paused in their breakfasts to stare over at him and the toddler in his arms.

After a few seconds passed, Edie seemed to regain her senses and put down the spoon she'd been using to feed Lottie and got up to put the baby in the twins' highchair. Approaching with a smile, she asked, "Why, who's this handsome lil'fellow?"

He let his wife take Harry from his arms and coo at the toddler before he whispered, voice hoarse, "Harry. Lily's son."

Edie's gaze honed in on him, the hazel hue fading to a bleak gray. "Is tha' so?" she replied. "Is Lily…?"

Severus nodded.

Bouncing Harry a little on her hip, Edie sighed. "Her husband too, I'm guessin'?" asked Edie.

"Yes," he said. "And for it, the Dark Lord is gone."

His wife's mouth fell open and her eyes grew large. "No!" she gasped. "Really? He's—" she cast her gaze back to their daughters and Darla. Lowering her voice, she said, " _Dead_?"

He pursed his lips. That was the prevailing belief, but Albus had seemed little convinced Voldemort was finished. He was sure it would be like pulling teeth to figure out why that was in the coming years. "So it seems," he answered finally.

Edie's brows furrowed, but smoothed in the end as she dipped her chin. "Good," she replied. Attention once more on Harry as the toddler made a grab for a loose lock of her hair, she smiled at him. "Wha' are yeh doin' with Harry? Doesn't he have family he should o' been sent off ter already?"

Severus shifted uneasily. "He does," he answered. "But… Lily's sister's family is not one I would trust Harry's well-being with."

"Oh no, Severus Snape, don't tell me yeh told Albus we'd take him in without talkin' ter _me_ —"

He put up his hands. "No, that's not it!" he assured, "I said we would _watch_ him while I looked into different family we can send him to live with where he will grow up safe."

"Aw," piped up Darla, shocking him into stepping back with how close she was to him and Edie. When had his little sister learned to be so quiet? "I'd have liked a nephew."

Severus scowled at her as Edie's expression twisted. "Maybe yeh will," his wife remarked in an uneasy tone. "There's a fifty percent chance o' one."

Darla cocked her head in befuddlement while Severus found his eyebrows shooting to his hairline. Was that Edie's way of telling him she planned to go through with her latest pregnancy? He wanted to ask, but out of worry it was not, he refrained. It was best not to raise Darla's excitement about the subject of another baby so soon. Even if his wife did decide to have this one, they were still early in her pregnancy and she could, Merlin-forbid, lose it.

Appearing to have shaken off her confusion, Darla reached over and tugged on Edie's sleeve. "Can I see baby Harry anyway?"

Severus frowned. "No," he told her. "Harry needs to eat and be put down to rest. He's had an eventful night."

His sister pouted at him and crossed her arms as she fell away from Edie. As she petted a quietly snuffling Harry's hair, Edie told Darla, "Go an' finish yer breakfast before it gets cold."

"But—"

"Now, Darla," Severus nearly growled at the girl.

His sister gave him a nasty glare before she huffed and stomped off to the breakfast table. Turning his attention back to Edie, he said to her, "We won't be keeping him long. A week, at most," he promised. "I told Albus you'd care for him while I searched for other relatives of Lily who may want him."

"Tha's fine," Edie agreed. "But wha' happens if yeh don't find any relatives besides Lily's sister?"

Severus fidgeted with his wand. "He will go to her," he admitted. "Lily performed some rather spectacular magic to protect Harry and the blood shared between Harry and 'Tuney will make sure that spell continues to protect him over the coming years."

"Oh no, absolutely not," Edie said, though, it was in a cheery tone to Harry, who she was in the midst of a tug-of-war with over a lock of her hair. "If it comes down ter it, we will be keepin' him an' Darla will be gettin' tha' nephew she's after."

There was a cheer from the breakfast table and he shot a look of warning at his sister. "You know I would prefer that as well," he started, "but how would we be able to afford him in addition to—"

"Sev'rus, _no_ ," Edie said with eyes molten gold in their determination. "It might be harder an' there might not be much ter go around if we keep him, but we'll make it work. Poor is better than no love." Some of the gold fades away in her gaze, returning it to a slightly warmer version of her usual hazel eyes. "I'd know," she mumbled. "I grew up with no love."

He sighed and carded his non-wand hand through his hair. "All right," he said. "All right."

-o-O-o-

After five days of searching Muggle records and censuses, Severus finally found a cousin of Lily's mother living in England. He was in his late thirties and married with no children. Records showed he worked for an insurance agency as an accountant and his wife was a substitute teacher for the primary schools in her area. The most interesting thing, however, was he and his wife lived in a town not far at all from where he and Lily grew up. After this discovery, Severus decided his first order of business was to visit the place. To his relief, it wasn't a factory town like Cokeworth, but one that looked to have agricultural roots that were slowly being developed into something more suburban. He counted that as a positive toward the cousins who lived here and began to stroll through it in search of their home.

When he found it, he stared at the two-story red-brick house and felt satisfaction. It looked like a proper home with at least two bedrooms and a garden. Harry could grow up happy here if the cousins were kind people and interested in taking in a child. As he continued to stare at the home, a black automobile rolled up the drive and parked just outside the garage. Severus turned his head and watched a man step out of the vehicle. He was blond and thin, much as Petunia was, though the shape of his face reminded him more of Lily. Not by much, however, as his jaw was far too square and his eyes were set farther apart than Lily's on his face.

"Hello, can I help you?" he called upon spotting Severus.

Severus paused a moment to consider how to proceed. Did he shake his head and come back another time? Or did he try and talk to the man now about Harry? After a moment of contemplation, Severus decided now would be best. He was running out of time and Lily's cousin deserved at least a day or two to consider if he wanted to become a father to Harry, nevermind speak with his wife and anyone else whose lives would be altered drastically by adopting Harry. Stepping toward him, he asked, "Are you Raymond Cross?"

"Yes, I am."

Putting on a professional smile he had used while working as a clerk at Mr. Mulpepper's apothecary, he said, "May we speak a moment? I have some unfortunate news to share with you about your cousin, Lily Potter. Or perhaps you'd recall her better as Lily Evans?"

-o-O-o-

November eighth, 1981 Harry Potter was not left in a basket on the doorstep of a house of strangers, but placed in the out-stretched hands of Raymond Cross's wife, Lynne Cross. Instead of being held like a muddy pup – as far away from the body as possible – Harry was brought right next to his adoptive mother's heart and his face was stroked as if he was a precious jewel. There was no letter that explained Harry's presence or history to be read and cursed at by Raymond Cross, but there was Severus there to pass along some final advice and promise he would come back in just shy of ten years time to explain the circumstances of Harry's adoption to the boy for them.

Severus shook hands with both of the Crosses and thanked them for what they were doing as much as they thanked him for giving them a son. He said goodbye to Harry and wished him many years of happiness with his family. Of course, the baby understood little of what he said, but still, he smiled and offered a garbled goodbye of his own. As he left the new family to return to his own, Severus didn't even feel the need to look back. He knew the Crosses were good people who would raise Harry with love and ensure he grew up happy and strong.

* * *

 **How did you like the end? Is it Good? Bad? Meh?**

 **Be on the lookout for the next fic in the Family Branches series! It's called _All Is Well_ and will be uploaded on Monday :)**

 **Thank you all for reading!**


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